Redemption
by WordsAreTrivial
Summary: A story of rediscovery, redemption and reunion. (Season 6 fic with flashbacks) It IS a Delena story at heart, but since he's gone it's going to take a while to get there.
1. Absolutely

**Absolutely**

"**This is the story of a girl; who cried a river and drowned the whole world"**

The first night she snapped her neck.

Elena was dreaming of Damon."_I'm not sorry that knowing you has made me question everything, that in death you're the one that made me feel most alive...but I am not sorry that I'm in love with you. I love you, Damon. I love y-"_. She could feel his lips crushing hers, the passion, the love, the power, their connection. She could feel it as if he was still there, standing in front of her, pulling her into him as if he wanted to pull her inside of himself. She never wants to wake up from this dream. She never wants to let him go.

Elena knew that something changed, she could sense it, the dream had changed but she can't look away from the scene unfolding in front of her eyes. She sees herself running into Damon's arms and she remembers the feeling she had at the time. She had never felt so safe, never been so relieved to feel his strong arms wrap around her body. Elena instantly recognises when this took place, she remembers it was the night that Katherine passengered her way into her mind but she can't understand why she is seeing it. Suddenly something shifts, the change is almost imperceptible but she knows now that this is Katherine's memory and she still can't tear her eyes away from it.

"_I've been looking everywhere for you. We need to talk" _she hears Katherine say to Damon.  
_"...you know how bad I screwed up? I wussed out Elena. I bailed because I was convinced I'd ruin you..you are literally the best person I've ever known and for me to think I could change you gives me way too much credit; and you..not nearly enough. You are the best influence on me. I need you. You are the good...and I need a little good in my life. Because without it; there's an awful lot of darkness" _Elena sees Damon reach out and rest his hand on Katherine's cheek and she watches as Katherine pulls away and turn her back to him.  
_"That's a lot of pressure Damon..I love that I make you a better person. I love that I make you happy, but I don't want to be the only thing you live for..it's about you, about the person I can't change. The person you really are. That person was right to let me go. I'm sorry Damon, but it's over. We're over." _Elena watches as Katherine turns and walks away with a twisted smile on her face. She watches as Damon's heart breaks in front of her.

"DAMON" Elena bolted upright gasping and sobbing, crying his name. It has been 3 months and she dreams of him every night. It's a never-ending cycle of love and torture. Every night she wakes up screaming and crying, sobbing, gasping. She feels her heart breaking all over again. She doesn't know if she can survive this. She doesn't know if she _wants _to survive this.

"Why am I remembering this? How am I remembering this? What's going on?" Elena asked herself as she gazes over the room searching for some kind of explanation. She doesn't understand why she is dreaming Katherine's memories. Damon had never told her how Katherine broke his heart that night and now she knows she can't bear the knowledge. Elena reached out to switch on the bedside lamp when she heard a soft cough come from beside her. Spinning round in shock and apprehension she was not prepared in any way for the sight in front of her.

"Hel_lo, _Elena." **Katherine.**

"Oh my god, I'm losing my mind. I'm actually losing my mind, I'm going insane...what's wrong with me?" Elena cried out. She jumped out of bed and darted across to the other side of the room, eyes wide and not comprehending.

"You are NOT here. You are DEAD" she screamed at Katherine.

"Actually.." Katherine started speaking

"NO, no, no, this isn't REAL!"  
"Stop it, stop it, get out of my head" Elena wailed grasping her head in her hands and pulling wildly at her hair.

"Elena, calm do-" Katherine tried again to make Elena listen.

"NO" she screamed and then Elena sped back across the room to stand in front of Katherine. It took less than a second to snap her neck and Katherine disappeared instantly leaving Elena alone once more.

She dropped back down to the bed feeling completely lost and utterly alone. Throwing herself backwards she crashed into her pillows and pulled one over her face before she started crying again, the pillows absorbing her wracking sobs. After a few minutes Elena tried to pull herself together again. She'd never felt so alone, it was such a heavy feeling but entirely her own fault. 'Maybe I can hallucinate Katherine again' she thought to herself wryly. 'Of all the people to make up, why the hell did it have to be Katherine?' She was convinced she was losing her mind, it made sense after all. Elena had locked herself in this room for 3 months, she hadn't spoken to anyone, of course Stefan, Caroline, Jeremy, Matt and Ric had all tried to get through to her but she just didn't want to know.

Elena knew it was selfish and that her friends were hurting too but she just didn't want to hear that it would get better, that they'd be okay, that they could get through it if they would just stick together. She didn't want to stick to anyone, all she wanted was Damon and he was gone. He'd left her. He'd promised to come back to her and he'd lied. Logically she knew it wasn't his fault and she wasn't angry with him, she didn't blame him. She simply couldn't bear the thought of never seeing him again so she'd locked herself in here and refused to think about it, she'd locked herself away with her memories and cried and slept and existed and pretended that he was still there. For 3 months. So Elena figured it was about time she lost her mind. She was barely functioning in any way. In fact the only reason she hadn't turn to ash yet was because Caroline stopped by three times a week and left baskets outside her door. Filled with blood bags. Elena knew it was Caroline because her scent filled the hallway when Elena opened the door. And because once, Caroline had still been there when she opened the door. Elena had grabbed the basket and slammed the door on her face and now after these months of utter isolation she was finally losing her mind and hallucinating Katherine, of all people.


	2. Angel

**Angel**

"**Memories seep from my veins"**

"Well" huffed Katherine "that went well."

"Really Katherine? What did you expect?" Damon rushed up behind her and wrapped his hand around her neck. "What. Did. You. Expect? What in the name of _fuck _possessed you to start with that?" he demanded.

"Da-am-on—ca-n't-bre-athe" Katherine gasped out. Damon tightened his grip on her neck but before he could speak again Bonnie spoke up.

"Damon, let her go" she said gently.

Damon held on to Katherine for a second longer before letting out an exasperated sigh and throwing her to the other side of the room.

"Katherine what the fuck?" he growled at her. "Why did you do that? I _thought _you were try-"

"Damon for god's sake shut up" Katherine cut in with a fierce look on her face. She spun around and waved her hand at him as if shooing him away. "I have a plan. I know what I'm doing so stop being so melodramatic."

Damon flushed with anger and started striding towards her again so she raised her hands in surrender and started backing away from him.

"Damon – wait" Bonnie began before turning her attention to Katherine. "It _probably_ wasn't the best idea to start with that" she said "we can all see she's not coping, how do you think she's going to react to this? She's just going to be even angrier with you if or when you eventually get her to listen!" Bonnie was definitely softer spoken than Damon was but she managed to get his point across all the same.

Katherine let out a sigh of exasperation. "I **said**..I have...a plan. I **said**..I know...what I am doing" she ground out. "Honestly, you'd think you two would have a little more faith in me." she ended her speech with a little hurt expression which Damon recognised all too well as being totally _fake_ but still he had to give her credit for trying.

He barked out a laugh and strode over to where the girls were standing. "Faith? In Katherine Pierce? Have you met you?" he sighed and sank down against the wall.

Damon had no idea what possessed him to trust Katherine in the first place. Maybe it was just the sheer desperation to get out of this hell-hole and back to Elena and for some twisted reason the fates had sent fucking Katherine of all people to save the day. He had no idea whether Katherine really did have a plan, he didn't know if she was being honest, he didn't know what her motivations were she was really rather quiet about the entire thing, all he knew was that she said she was there to help and dammit if he didn't let himself hope just a little bit. After the stunt Katherine had just pulled with Elena though he could feel that flicker of hope diminishing a little.

"This has to work Bonnie. We have to get out of here. She needs me" Damon finally spoke up. "I need her" he whispered more softly under his breath. He knew both Katherine and Bonnie heard him anyway he just didn't care.

"Right, well. Here we go again" Katherine said to Damon and Bonnie before appearing in Elena's room once again.

Damon knew that he was lucky in this sense, he could watch what was happening, he could see Elena, hear her; it was better than nothing. It was better than what Elena had. Damon was truly scared for her, there had been moments in the last 3 months when he had almost fully believed that she was going to do something drastic but thankfully something always seemed to stop her, he wasn't sure what it was but he was beyond grateful that it did. The past 3 months had been agonising for him, having to see Elena suffer day after day, hour after hour, and being unable to do anything to help her. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and hide her from the world until she was okay again, he wanted to kiss her and caress her and lie beside her and make love to her and..'God' he thought to himself with a groan 'this is **not **helping'. Instead of thinking Damon focused on what was going on in Elena's new bedroom.

Katherine stood gazing down at the sleeping girl in the bed. Elena was tossing and turning, tears running down her cheeks. Katherine blew out a huff of air and set to work.


	3. Stateless

**A/N – Hi guys *waves* it's really kind of awesome that people are reading this story. I got it in my head one night and it just wouldn't leave me the hell alone. It all started from an idea that I'd had of Katherine giving Elena the memories she had of Damon because it seemed really unfair to me that Damon frequently said really awesome stuff to Kat thinking she was Elena. And it went from there.  
I will be explaining where Damon & Bonnie are in the future, as well as where Kat was etc. But right now it's all about getting Elena to believe. I've got a few chapters almost ready to go just need some editing doing...anyway enough from me. On with the show**

**Stateless**

"**And then the silence surrounds you, and haunts you"**

Of course Elena was dreaming of Damon again. As with the night before she knew the second her dream morphed into something she didn't know. This time she realised with clarity that it was Katherine's memory and once again she found herself unable to get away from the scene playing out in her head. She recognised this night immediately, it was Founder's Day, the night Katherine had returned to Mystic Falls, the night Damon had almost died in the fire, the night she, Bonnie and Stefan had rescued him...

"_What are you doing here" _she hears Katherine asking Damon as she sees him leaving her old house.  
_"Failed and feeble attempt at doing the right thing..You know, I came to this town wanting to destroy it. Tonight, I found myself wanting to protect it. How does that happen? I'm not a hero, Elena, I don't do good; it's not in me." _Elena wanted to cry as she watched Damon speaking so honestly to 'her', she wanted to tell him that it had always been in him, she'd always seen it, god did she want to tell him that she loved him. Instead she watched Katherine respond in her place.  
_"Maybe it is" _the imposter said.  
_"Nah. It's reserved for my brother, and you...and Bonnie..who; even though she has every reason to hate me, still helped Stefan save me..because she did it for you. Which means that somewhere along the way, you decided I was worth saving. And I wanted to thank you for that"..._

The night Damon kissed Katherine, thinking she was Elena.

Once again Elena bolted upright in bed gasping as soon as the memory/dream/hallucination/whatever it was (she'd work that out later) let go of its grasp on her mind. Immediately she locked eyes with Katherine. Such familiarity and yet such difference, in a small part of her mind Elena was remarkably impressed with how precise her hallucination of Katherine was. However the majority of her brain was just screaming at her to make it go away again. Elena did not understand any of this but she definitely did not want her here, around her and she **definitely **did not want her hallucinations tormenting her with images of moments that Katherine had stolen from Elena. Didn't she have enough to deal with as it was? She wondered to herself.

Elena smiled a half-smile as she watched hallucination Katherine start to back away from the bed as if she understood Elena's intentions. Katherine raised her hands in a surrender gesture.

"Elena, please. You have to listen to me, I'm here to he-" but that was as far as she got before Elena snapped her neck, Katherine disappeared once again and Elena breathed a sigh of relief into the silence.

**Damon's POV**

"For **FUCK **sake" Katherine screeched as she reunited with Damon and Bonnie. "She is one _stubborn _little mini-me. I was right; she truly does have the Petrova fire" Katherine glared at Damon as if it was somehow all his fault which made him laugh a little bit.

"What happened to your 'plan' Katherine? Little Miss 'I Know What I'm Doing'?" he asked with a smirk.

"Hey, I do have a plan OK? At least tonight I got more words out than last night! It's progress" Katherine snapped back.

Bonnie sighed, "this isn't working..you need to try a different tactic" she threw a glance in Damon's direction but he just shrugged his shoulders. It's not as if he had any better ideas and he was beginning to feel a little dejected.

"It's not going to work" he said out loud "_but I need it to" _were the words he thought to himself.

"God, I wish there was something I could **do**, it's so...frustrating being so useless!" Bonnie huffed. Damon understood where she was coming from but there was nothing either he or Bonnie could do. This was Katherine's deal and she was the only one who could save them all. Once again Damon despaired at all of the ironies in that thought.

"Oh, stop being such drama queens" Katherine spat out. "It's only the second night! You didn't honestly believe she was just going to suddenly accept that I'm not as _**dead**_ as she thought I was did you? Even the two of you aren't that stupid. We have time. It WILL work" Katherine stared at Damon and Bonnie as if challenging them to try and deny her words and then added softly, "it _needs _to work".

Damon watched for a while as Katherine paced back and forth across the stark white floor. Eventually the silence was too much so he spoke his thoughts out loud, "this place is horrific"; well it was what everyone was thinking!

"Think yourself lucky Damon, you think this is bad then try being in the Dark Dimension" Katherine retorted. "This place is like heaven compared to that, and yes" she continued with a smile on her face "I mean that sincerely despite being stuck with you and the witchy..anchory..thing...what even are you now Bon-Bon?" Katherine teased. Bonnie threw an exasperated look at Damon but otherwise just ignored Katherine.

Damon rolled his eyes at Bonnie before speaking. "I know" he groaned. "This is all just very frustrating. It would be a hell of a lot easier if I could see her instead of you" and isn't that the truth he thought to himself but of course it wasn't that simple.

"Well...easier yes, but it would kind of defeat the purpose. I'd rather the two of you didn't forget that I'm here to actually help you. You know? This isn't some game for kicks. Besides.." Katherine smiled slyly at Damon, "you already got your redemption, right, Damon?" he watched as the fire he recognised so well flashed through her eyes but it just made him even more frustrated. He wanted to pull his own hair out.

"I **know **it's not a fucking game Katherine. You think I want to be stuck here with you for the rest of eternity? No of course I don't. What I _want_ is to be out there with Elena; like I'm supposed to be!" she was right of course, Elena had been his redemption, his saviour, his life. She was everything and he needed to get back to her, he was just going to have to put his trust in Katherine, believe that she could get them there. "Swear to _GOD _I'ma kill that warlock boy if we ever get out of here" Luke. Stupid boy who stopped the spell _seconds_ before he had the chance to get back to Elena. Of, fucking, course. What a surprise. Damon rolled his eyes as he considered that night for the tenth-hundredth time.

"DAmon" Bonnie's raised voice cut through his thought process and he looked at her as she raised her eyebrows in an exasperated manner. Oh right, she was annoyed about the killing of warlocks comment. "I'm joking, I'm joking" he reassured her, "sort of" he added with a smirk.

Focusing he returned his thoughts to Elena.


	4. Reflections

**A/N: Hello, it's great that people are reading this and following it etc. It would also be super great if some of the people reading it could leave a review. Even if it's just one word – just to let me know what you think  
Also I own nothing. On with the show! **

**Reflections**

"**Reflections still look the same to me, as before I went under"**

Elena was sitting on the edge of her bed twirling her daylight ring around her finger and replaying the events of the last two nights over and over in her head. How was it possible that she had hallucinated Katherine two nights in a row? More importantly she thought to herself; how was it possible that she was remembering Katherine's memories? Was it because she had died? Elena shook her head to remove that idea, it didn't make any sense. Katherine has been gone for months and I'm only seeing things specific to Damon. "What is going **on**?" she demanded to the empty room.

For the first time in 3 months Elena was beginning to get sick of this room. It had been Isobel's at one point, now it belonged to Ric, well, now it belonged to Ric, Jeremy and herself, and whoever else wanted to stay there. Right now it was just her though, she'd demanded to be left alone and aside from Caroline dropping by with her baskets most people had respected her wishes. Jeremy and Ric had banged on the door a few times but they had left without fuss eventually although she knew if they were truly worried it wouldn't take much to break down the door.

There had been times when she truly felt like giving up, she just didn't know how it was possible to live an eternity with this pain inside of her. It seemed to get worse every day instead of getting better with the passage of time. But every time she'd really considered giving up there was _something _that stopped her, a voice in her head that told her that if she truly died then she was giving up any chance she had at getting Damon back. Hell, if she truly died she didn't even know where she would go now because there was no other side anymore and she might not even end up with Damon. And Elena **knew**, she had decided that some way; some how she was going to get him back. She'd search the world if she had to. She'd go to the ends of the earth. Because she knew that someone, somewhere would be able to get him back to her. She just hadn't found the energy and strength to get started on her mission yet. And now she had to deal with Katherine hallucinations before she could even think about what her next step should be.

Deciding that blood might make her think more clearly she grabbed a bag from the fridge and drained it quickly and began pacing up and down the floors of her room. 'Maybe I should speak to someone about it' she thought. I could go and tell someone what's happening but she quickly dismissed the idea knowing that her friends and family would just think she'd officially gone mad and also because she still wasn't ready to face anyone yet. Not that I particularly want to deal with Katherine hallucinations either she thought wryly, but it was almost her preferred choice.

"But what if it's not a hallucination?" Elena questioned out loud, she considered it for a brief moment in her mind and then shook her head. "No, not possible, Katherine is **dead" **she said again, defiantly. So how do I make it stop? Elena wondered to herself.

**Damon's POV**

Damon was listening to Bonnie and Katherine arguing and watching as Elena booted up her laptop for the first time in weeks, wondering what she was planning on doing on it when Katherine's voice cut into his thoughts.

"...it's not that easy Bonnie. She needs time to work out what's going on. At night I can get into her dreams and give her the memories, they'll sit in her subconscious and give her the time she needs to come to terms with a reality she thinks is an illusion. She's made progress. She'll get there, I'm sure of it" Katherine finished with a flourish and gave Damon and Bonnie a wide smile. Bonnie gave a little grimace back but Damon just shrugged his shoulders. He had nothing to say, Katherine had had her neck snapped twice now and Elena didn't seem to be listening to much of anything she had to say. He was praying that Katherine could do the job but he didn't exactly have any words of encouragement.

"Anyway, it's time for phase 2 of the plan" Katherine said almost gleefully. "This is the bit that's going to make all the difference" she continued with determination.

"What are you talking about Katherine?" Damon demanded. "You know if you informed us of the plan then it might be more useful than you just swanning around on your own did you ever consider that?" he turned on her and snarled at her but Katherine just reached out and placed her hand gently on his cheek. Damon jumped away from her as if she'd burned him and he watched Katherine's face turn to a hurt expression very briefly before she resumed her usual air of nonchalance and indifference.

"Damon you're going to see for yourself in about oh, 2 minutes, so why bother wasting time when I can just as effectively...leave" and then the little bitch disappeared again leaving Damon and Bonnie alone once more.

"God she's infuriating" Damon roared.

"Yeah, she is" Bonnie agreed "but she's trying to help", Damon snorted.

"You believe her?"

"We don't really have any other choice Damon" Bonnie responded. "She's kind of our last chance saloon here, there's nothing else we can do and we can't sit around forever...well...you know what I mean...waiting for Elena or Stefan or someone to figure something out. I just don't see any harm in _trying _to trust Katherine in the mean time. We've got nothing to lose..and everything to gain, right?"

Damon looked at her in surprise. Who is this girl and what has she done with Bonnie? He wondered to himself. Trusting Katherine Pierce! This coming from the girl who'd tried to kill him personally no less than 4 times, the self-proclaimed hater of vampires, the judgy little thing he'd grown to eventually respect just a little bit...Damon's shock must have been evident because Bonnie suddenly gave him a light push backwards.

"Don't look so shocked Damon!" she teased him "I'm trying to channel my inner Elena Gilbert. Everybody deserves a tenth chance and all that, besides, like I said, she's our only hope at the moment. We may as well make the most of it"

Damon had to admit that Bonnie was right. He had loved and hated Katherine in equal measure; these days he was just more frustrated with her than anything else. Nowadays he was mostly just frustrated with her. Of course if she managed to get them the hell out of here then he might have to update their relationship status to 'friends'. Damon smirked imagining Katherine as his friend. In what world? He asked himself.

"It's time" Bonnie said pointing in the direction of Elena and Katherine.


	5. Say Nothing

**A/N: I still don't own the Vampire Diaries or anything exciting related to them. Unfortunately. Again, it's really really awesome that people are following this but PLEASE PLEASE if some of you could leave me a review just to let me know...anything really That'd be wicked.  
On with the show! **

**Chapter 5 – Say Nothing**

"**I'll be the one, if you want me to"**

Elena was fully prepared the 3rd night. She'd done some research online, drank some blood, had a shower and she was feeling better than she had in a long time. She was sure Katherine wouldn't be bothering her tonight.

'Oh for god sake' Elena thought to herself as she was ripped from an insanely pleasant dream of Damon and her dancing at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant and thrust into something entirely different. 'Why won't it stop!' she thought angrily as she watched Katherine stroll into Damon's room scantily clad in sexy black lingerie. She watched Katherine join Damon in his bed and try to seduce him.

"_You hurt me today...you were mean and very rough and monstrous" _she says to Damon who is reading a book and virtually ignoring her.  
"_You deserved it"  
_She watches as Katherine leans in closer to Damon;  
"_I like this Damon"  
"Katherine, Katherine, there are six other bedrooms in this house.." _Elena groaned inwardly as Damon leaned closer to Katherine, looking for all the world as if he is about to kiss her "_Go find one" _Elena couldn't help but be slightly shocked and delightfully happy as she watches **her **Damon push Katherine off of him and resume ignoring her. She's even more satisfied as she watches Katherine's face turn from shocked to upset before flouncing off.

Suddenly the scene changes again and she sees Damon and Katherine driving in a car, she doesn't know when these events occurred but as she watches the scene unfold she remembers, this was the night Klaus came back to town with Stefan, Esther tried to have her killed, Klaus compelled Stefan to turn off his humanity, Stefan bit her, Klaus stole her blood and all Elena wanted to know was where Damon was.

"_Where are we going?" _Damon asks Katherine  
_"Far enough away so that you can't go running back"  
"Not to worry. Mystic Falls and I are on a bit of a break..let's just say Elena and I are having a bit of a difference of opinion on how I should behave." _Elena remembers the fight they had, she feels terrible about it now, she never truly wanted Damon to change, she never wanted him to be like Stefan, she fell in love with Damon because of and in spite of everything that was 'bad' about him. She loves every bit of him.  
"_Ooh. Let me guess..Elena wants you to be the hero, and you don't like playing pretend..her loss"  
_Elena watches with absurd jealousy as Damon kisses Katherine until he pushes her off, Katherine looks offended and huffy which makes Elena laugh.  
"_What are you doing?" _she demands  
Damon's response makes Elena's entire being light up with happiness.  
"_I thought I'd give it a shot. Truth is, you just don't do it for me anymore." _

Instantly Elena is thrown back into the room, she looks at Katherine standing over her with an almost expectant look on her face and before Katherine can utter a word or Elena can think twice she snaps her neck again. This time Elena doesn't feel such a sense of relief when Katherine disappears though.

**Damon's POV**

Damon couldn't help but laugh as Katherine materialised in front of him once more.

"She is a stubborn little..." Katherine trails off with a loud sigh. "You'd think after 500 years of having my neck snapped it would hurt a little less each time but noooo!" she moaned, rubbing her neck gently.

"So...was that part of the grand plan Katherine?" Damon drawled out. He was almost beyond hoping anymore, it just wasn't working and they were running out of time. "Do you think maybe next time you could just, oh I don't know, **stop **her from snapping your neck?" he said sarcastically. Katherine just rolled her eyes at him and flounced off to the couch to sit beside bonnie.

She tapped Bonnie on the arm and raised her eyebrows at Damon. "Just watch" she demanded.

**Elena's POV**

Elena sank into her desk chair and started twirling around on it, as she spun she considered everything that had happened over the past three nights. She had been so certain that Katherine was a hallucination, it was the only thing that really made sense after all. Katherine was dead, wasn't she? But then, when was the last time anything truly made sense in my world? She questioned herself. And if she believed that Katherine was truly dead then what did that mean for Damon, and Bonnie? She didn't believe that they were truly gone so could she logically apply the same belief to Katherine?

Elena huffed in exasperation. Nothing made sense. Even if Katherine was really visiting her each night and giving her these memories; why? Why would Katherine do that? Especially since she was now apparently giving her memories of the times that Damon had rejected her! It just didn't make any sense. If she was real, then what did she want!?

Elena realised that the only way she was going to get answers was if she stopped snapping Katherine's neck and started listening to her instead. It didn't exactly fill her with joy, the thought of having to talk to Katherine, after everything she'd done, but she realised that there was really no other way around it.

As she considered this she also wondered briefly where exactly Katherine disappeared to when she snapped her neck. She literally just vanished the second it happened, all three times. Again Elena sighed, just more reasons that made her believe it was probably a hallucination. Her mind playing tricks on her. 'But' Elena rationalised 'if it was just my mind playing tricks on me then how am I possibly seeing Katherine's memories'. 'Yep. There's no two ways about this' Elena thought to herself. 'I'm going to have to talk to Katherine'.

Immediately after she worried that having had her neck snapped three times in a row might make Katherine not want to come back. Elena laughed as she realised she was now terrified that she might not.

Feeling utterly stupid Elena spoke out loud to the empty room before her; "...just um...in case you're real...or there..or..whatever..I won't, em, snap your neck tonight if you come back...I promise". 'There' Elena thought, 'I've done all I can now. We'll just have to wait and see what happens'.

**Damon's POV**

Damon, Bonnie and Katherine had sat in silence watching Elena spin herself around in circles and just as Damon was about to break the silence they heard Elena speak out loud.

"...just um...in case you're real...or there..or..whatever..I won't, em, snap your neck tonight if you come back...I promise".

Damon sprang up off of the couch and stared at Katherine in disbelief. Bonnie looked equally shocked but Katherine just looked pleased with herself, nothing new there then, Damon thought to himself.

"I can't..." he said "..she's starting to believe it!" he couldn't help the excited note that tinged his words and when Bonnie started grinning at him he also couldn't help return the smile.

"Well, don't get too worked up yet" Katherine said, raining on his parade, "we still need her to believe **me** after all" she continued with a roll of her eyes.

Damon had to admit that she had a point. All of this would be for nothing if Katherine couldn't convince Elena that she was being honest, if she could convince Elena to trust her, to give her one final chance.

"Well...luckily for you Elena is the group-appointed saviour of the cursed and the damned" Damon smiled softly, "and don't even get me started on how ironic _that _is now that she's actually one of the eternal damned" Damon laughed out loud.

Elena would never be damned, he'd never really believed in all that anyway but when he thought of Elena and how pure and selfless she was he couldn't begin to fathom her being in any way cursed. Katherine and Bonnie both smiled at him benevolently and he turned away from them to avoid their expressions. It was too damn hard being stuck here, away from Elena, missing her the way he did, he felt incomplete and broken and he couldn't even be alone for 2 minutes to grieve for the girl who never got to hear him say goodbye.

Damon shook himself out of his melancholy. If Katherine could pull this off and then help Elena figure out the way to get them back then she would never need to hear him say goodbye. He would never leave her side again. They would have eternity. He turned back to Katherine and Bonnie with a set expression.

"She'll believe you, she will. Once you explain it properly. She'll have no choice. It's _Elena" _he looked directly at Katherine and nodded and then sank down against the wall again to wait.


	6. Say Something

**A/N: I own nothing.  
Also I forgot to mention the ratings thing last chapter; I'm leaving it as T for now because I'm not entirely sure how it's going to pan out in the future. It's a long – haul story and plot and I don't want to mislead any of my readers so I *think* the T rating is fine for the language etc. at the moment and if it does get to a point in the future where it's racy then I'll rethink things.  
Thanks so much to the people & guests who have left reviews. Would be great to hear from more of you. On with the show! **

**Chapter 6 – Say Something**

"**Say something I'm giving up on you"**

"Okay..I'm sure I'll end up back here sooner than we think with my neck snapped for the _billionth_ time but for now let's just stick with the plan. I will be with Elena, I will _somehow _convince her to trust me; we'll go on adventures.." Katherine smiled slyly at Damon and Bonnie before continuing "and we will return you two to the land of the um...undead and witchy? World" Katherine threw a confused glance at Bonnie before continuing "...I don't know. An-y-way, I'm not good with goodbyes and I'll be back before you know it so – byeeee!"Katherine waggled her fingers over her shoulder and disappeared.

Damon laughed out loud, he was pretty sure she would be back before she knew it, it's Katherine, she's not going to last long without getting her neck snapped he thought to himself wryly. In the meantime he and Bonnie would just have to settle down and wait, keep their fingers crossed and watch events unfold in front of them. He prayed to a god he didn't believe in for a miracle to carry him back to Elena.

**Elena's POV**

Elena had gone to bed early on the 4th night, she wanted to give Katherine plenty of opportunity to arrive from wherever she came from and truthfully, she just wanted it over with. She wanted to get onto the next part of the process where she actually spoke to her. Elena found it slightly ironic that she hadn't wanted to speak to any of her friends for 3 months and all of a sudden here she was desperate to speak to Katherine. Katherine!

Elena let out a sigh of relief when her dream changed from Damon's face to Katherine's. She came back she thought to herself gratefully, I can get answers. In the meantime she tried to relax and observed the dream unfolding in front of her.

"_I'm dying Stefan..I'm in this for real this time" _Elena watches Katherine remove her hat revealing her grey hair and she feels a pang of sadness for her which makes her want to roll her eyes at herself!  
"_Look at me. I'm dying. What does someone have to go through to get a little redemption around here?" _Before Elena even had a chance to consider the words the scene suddenly changes again and she sees herself sitting on Stefan's bed with Katherine. She remembers this night clearly although she is confused as to why Katherine would show her yet another memory from this awful period of her life.

"_Yes..uh..plus, one more thing..I forgive you" _Elena watches herself as she grants Katherine forgiveness.  
"_You what?"  
"I forgive you. You weren't born evil. Your life made you that way..you lost everyone that you cared about way too young and you didn't have a family that looked after you...I just wanted to get the forgiveness part out..it's a part of me that I never want to lose." _

Elena is once more thrust into the waking world and she sees Katherine sitting in the chair she had placed beside her bed. For minutes Elena just sat there and stared at her, thoughts swirling around her mind, struggling to pick one thing to say. Suddenly Elena sprang out of bed and Katherine flinched but Elena raised her hands and backed away from her before turning and making her way back to the bed. She sat down cross-legged on the bed and opened her mouth before closing it again.

"Say something Elena" Katherine demanded "you're freaking me out!" she glared at her.

"How are you here? You're dead" Elena started with the only thing she could think of at the precise moment but Katherine just laughed.

"How are _you _here? You're dead too!" she retorted. Elena rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration.

"Ok fine, let's assume for a moment that you're not dead, dead" she grumbled.  
"What are you doing here? What do you want? What's with the memories? Where have you been? Why **me**?"  
Now that she'd found her voice again Elena couldn't stop the questions from spilling out before trying to ask the one question she so desperately wanted an answer to.  
"..And...Are you...I mean...is he...is there..." eventually Elena trailed off and looked at Katherine with tears glistening in her eyes. She decided just to wait for Katherine to pick one of her questions and start replying.

Elena flinched when Katherine reached over and stroked her arm soothingly; she quickly removed her hand when she saw Elena's shocked expression but remained sitting in the chair looking somewhat calm and serene.

**Damon's POV**

"Well" Damon said to Bonnie "you have to admit the girl is good" he smirked. "Giving Elena the memory of her forgiveness directly before she speaks to her" Damon shrugged his shoulders. "I think she deserves more credit than I give her" he said wryly.

"Well, let's just wait and see what happens. It's still Katherine.." Bonnie replied, "All she really **needs** to do is get Elena to believe her, that's her deal. If Elena forgives her she gets to rejoin the land of the living, sort of, she's supposedly going to then help save **us** out of the goodness of her heart. So, I think we just...don't put all our eggs in the Katherine basket just yet..." Bonnie trailed off feeling depressed with her thought process.

"Hey what happened to Miss Let's Trust Katherine?" Damon teased trying to lighten the mood. He knew what Bonnie was saying was true; he just didn't want to dwell on it right now. They would cross that bridge **if **they came to it. "Let's just see what happens okay?" Damon tried to be reassuring; Bonnie gave him a small smile so he guessed it must have helped a little.


	7. Oblivion

**A/N: I still don't own TVD or anything related to it except this plot. This saddens me greatly.  
I've been exceptionally nervous about the next 2 chapters so please do be kind and review.  
In my story Katherine is a vampire. I know she technically died as a human (I think although I AM a little hazy on the whole passenger/traveller business) but for the purposes of my story she's a vamp.  
On with the show!**

Oblivion

"**When oblivion, is calling out your name"**

Elena sat on the edge of her bed waiting for answers. For her part Katherine seemed to be contemplating her response so Elena took the opportunity to reach out and touch Katherine on the shoulder. She pulled her fingers back immediately as if she'd been burned. 'She's really.._real'_ Elena thought to herself incredulously.

"O-k_ay_" Katherine said with a roll of her eyes.

"It's not exactly an easy story and I think it will go _a lot_ better for me in the long run if I start by telling you that I've been with Damon and Bonnie for the past few days." Katherine paused to allow that information to sink in.

Elena sucked in a deep breath as she registered the words Katherine had said. Part of her wouldn't allow herself to fully believe it, but a bigger part of her was filled with love, anxiety, nervousness, excitement and a myriad of other emotions that she couldn't quite pinpoint. Trying to focus on her breathing Elena asked the question she'd been dreading for 3 months.

"Is he ok?" she said it so softly that even Katherine had to strain to hear properly.

Katherine sighed, she truly did feel sorry for Elena and even Damon, and clearly I **am** changing she thought to herself dryly.

"He's ok, Elena. I mean, he's not exactly in a great place right now, literally and figuratively speaking, but really I think he's more concerned about you than anything else. We all are...to an extent" she added quickly seeing Elena's shocked expression flit across her face again. Elena narrowed her eyes briefly and then nodded once, decisively. "Okay" she said "Let's get on with the story then" she prompted.

"Well let's see" Katherine began, "Stefan stabbed me..you..with the traveller knife and I died" Katherine scrunched up her face in disgust before continuing, "I wasn't '_allowed'_ into the other side and then I got sucked into oblivion...It was terrifying Elena." She added quietly.

Elena was surprised by Katherine's honesty. It wasn't exactly usual for Katherine to be honest about anything, particularly her feelings.

"Oblivion?" she asked out loud.

"That's what it felt like" Katherine responded desolately. "It was so black, it seemed never-ending, and it felt like I was being pulled through nothingness forever. Eventually it ended." Katherine stopped abruptly and remained silent for a few minutes before going on; "the Dark Dimension" she whispered.

Elena was looking at Katherine with a mixture of sadness and disbelief. As far as she knew the Dark Dimension was like purgatory for the supernatural. "How did you get here?" she asked.

Quick as a flash Katherine's face returned to its usual display of haughty arrogance and indifference. "Please, Elena" she barked "I'm Katherine Pierce. I survive, remember? Not even _hell_ can keep me." Katherine smirked.

Elena didn't respond, she just sat silently waiting for Katherine to continue.

"It **was** hell, Elena. It was the worst experience of my life and that's saying something considering I spent over 500 years on the run" Katherine smirked. "I knew I needed a plan, I was going to get out of there somehow but it was hard. In the beginning...all I could see were the memories of my life, everything I'd done, all the truly horrendous decisions I've made in my life. They played like a tape on a loop, over and over again in my mind until I felt like I was going to go insane." Katherine paused inhaling a deep breath before going on.

"After weeks I finally made my way through the darkness, I found a group of witches, sucked in from the other side, and I spent time with them until they finally agreed to help me. I made a deal, Elena. That's why I'm here." Katherine stopped and looked at Elena expectantly.

"Well...that's a little _vague_" Elena finally responded. "I mean...what do you **want**Katherine?" she huffed out.

Katherine considered her response thoughtfully for a moment.

"I want redemption, Elena. I want forgiveness. In order to return to the land of the...undead living, I have to be forgiven. If not then I'll never find peace, I'll never be able to move on, they will keep me there, stuck for eternity, a slave to darkness and misery" Katherine replied wretchedly.

Elena barked out a laugh and looked at Katherine incredulously. "So you came to **ME**?" she asked.

"Well it's not quite that simple" Katherine responded ignoring Elena's obvious disdain. "I had to make a choice, I mean; it was either you or Stefan. I figured I'd have more of a shot at it with you because of your insane capacity for forgiveness" Katherine smiled a small smile at Elena "and also because I'm fairly sure there's _nothing _you won't do to get Damon back. I'm not sure if I could have made Stefan believe me in time" she finished.

Elena sat looking more confused than she had before. "Katherine this is all a bit..confusing; I'm going to need you to break this down for me. What does this have to do with Damon? And what do you mean 'in time'?" Elena demanded urgently.

"All right fine" Katherine huffed feeling a little exasperated. "I made a deal with the witches, you got that part right?" Katherine looked at Elena and she nodded.

"I **want **redemption Elena; this isn't some trick or game just so I can rejoin the real world. I truly **want **your forgiveness, and I **want **to help you. I know that must be incredibly difficult for you to believe but I **need** you to believe it. I have one week, to make you believe me. One week for you to grant me forgiveness and by my count we're on night 4. I came to you because, as I mentioned, you're capacity for forgiveness is unrivalled **and **because I want to give you something in return. If you can find it in yourself to believe me, to _forgive_ me, I will stay and help you find a way to bring back Damon and Bonnie." Katherine looked at Elena once more before adding "I think that basically sums it up."

**Thanks especially to my reviewers LissaSalvatore and Haileybug – reviews feed my motivation. **


	8. Cut

**A/N: What's this? 2 chapters in 1 day! I felt wrong just leaving Oblivion where it was so to keep the momentum this be the 2****nd**** part of the explanations for where Kat, Damon & Bonnie have been/are.  
I own nothing except my dreams. **

**Cut**

"**I feel alone here and cold here, though I don't wanna die"**

**Damon's POV**

"Do you think Elena will believe her?" Bonnie asked

"Probably not at first" Damon responded, "But yes, hell **I **almost believe her!" he turned to Bonnie and shrugged his shoulders. "I hope so anyway because I am so SICK of this place. I'm more interested in how the heck they're going to get us out of here though."

Damon looked around the space he and Bonnie had been occupying for three months. It was just air, white, pure, space.

Bonnie had explained that her grams had made some kind of 'provision' for her when the Other Side went kablooey, she didn't fully understand what grams had meant but as far as they could tell they were stuck in some kind of limbo. They could watch their friends and family, see them, hear them but it was like watching life happen on a television screen. The space around them never changed, it was just pure whiteness with nowhere to go.

A place in between the living and, whatever else was out there. For sure the Other Side was gone. Damon was even more confident that the only reason he was here at all was because he'd been holding hands with Bonnie at the end. He seemed to be part of the 'provision' by default. Still it would have been more than helpful to know what Bonnie's grams had meant, what the loophole was. 'Witches and their loopholes' Damon thought to himself with a smirk.

They'd been on their own for 3 months, watching over their family and friends and waiting for one of them to engage a brain cell and work out that they weren't actually _gone_ until four days ago Katherine had just miraculously appeared out of nowhere. To say they'd been shocked to see her would be the understatement of the decade.

When she'd arrived she explained about the deal she'd made with the witches, Bonnie hadn't exactly been impressed, he was assuming there was some sort of dark magic involved in _that_ deal but he didn't truly want to know so he didn't bother asking.

Then she'd gone on to explain about her journey for redemption and finished by telling them that she was going to help Elena and the others bring them back home. From what he could gather Katherine had been sent to them because there **was** nowhere else for her to be sent, what with the Other Side being gone.

It looked like this was now the place for the undead, and Bonnie he thought with a grin, with 'provisions' or _deals_. Damon grimaced at the thought hoping that no-one else would miraculously appear out of thin air. Katherine was bad enough!

So now here he was waiting. Waiting to see if Elena believed Katherine. If Elena could find it in herself to truly forgive Katherine. If Katherine could be believed and if they could figure out a way to get them back. There were too many _if's_ in that equation for Damon's liking.

Damon hated it. He was used to making plans, being the leader, making all the wrong choices for all the right reasons. He couldn't stand having nothing to do and he couldn't stand the endless waiting.

He puffed out a long sigh and turned to Bonnie giving her a small smile, "It'll work out" he said with a confidence he didn't necessarily feel.

**Elena's POV**

Elena sat quietly for a long time considering Katherine's words. Eventually she moved off the bed and poured glasses of blood, offering one to Katherine.

"Why the memories?" she finally asked.

"I thought you deserved them" Katherine shrugged. "They were _meant_ to be yours, times that Damon believed he was speaking to you. I wanted to show you how much he loved you, before you were his to love, the times he rejected me, because he loved you the whole time. I guess the forgiveness one is kind of self explanatory" she said with a little laugh.

Elena was surprised by how much sense Katherine made. "How am I supposed to trust you, Katherine? I mean after everything you've done. You never do anything for **anyone** except yourself!" Elena finished with a sigh of frustration.

"Elena all I had was time, for months now, all I've had is time to repeatedly watch those horrific memories, to think about everything I've done, everything I've lost. I want to live, Elena. I want to _atone..._and I love Stefan."

Katherine raised her hands as she saw the look of contempt flash across Elena's face and hurried on.

"I _know_, I know it's hard for you to hear that and believe it, but it's the truth Elena. I do love him, I have always loved him. I want to bring Damon back, for you, and for Stefan. I want to help bring Damon **and **Bonnie back. And I will. We can figure it out, together, if you'll just **trust** me." Katherine finished with a tone of desperation.

Again Elena sat silently considering Katherine. She **wanted** to believe her, desperately, but she just didn't know how to. This Katherine in front of her was a very different girl to the Katherine she knew and remembered so well. She seemed honest and, almost, _remorseful_, but it just didn't add up in Elena's head. She couldn't quite bring herself to believe that Katherine had really changed that much, it was a leap of faith Elena didn't know if she could make. Her gaze drifted to Katherine's face again as she thought once more about how much she wanted to believe in her.

If Katherine was telling the truth, then Damon was still there somewhere, Bonnie was still there, they were together and they had a chance at getting them back. It was what she had wanted all this time, it was what she needed.

"Can you prove it?" she asked Katherine out loud.

"Prove _what_ Elena?"

"That you're with him, that he's there. You can dream-walk like he can" Elena's voice raised in excitement, "why is it that you two are the only ones aside from the originals who can do that by the way?" she questioned aloud in the midst of her thought process, "you can go back, get Damon to show you something that only he and I know, then come back and show me. Proof" Elena finished with a giddy smile.

Katherine had to smile at Elena's obvious excitement.

"I don't know how _Damon_ can dream-walk" she responded "that's something you'll have to ask for yourself. But yes.." Katherine sighed loudly, "I can get your proof. Although it does mean you'll have to snap my neck again" she rolled her eyes at Elena, "the only way I can get back to them is if I 'die' out here with you."

"Oh" Elena responded looking a little dejected.

"Elena it's fine. I've been having my neck snapped periodically for over 500 years, I'm sort of used to it now. Besides, if it will help you believe me I'm willing to do almost anything" she finished with a small smile.

Elena looked up at Katherine once again slightly shocked and surprised at how different she seemed, but she wasn't about to turn down an offer to snap Katherine's neck either so she just shrugged her shoulders and walked over to where Katherine was standing. "Thank you" she whispered softly before snapping her neck, again.

**Please Review. Feed me and my motivation. **


	9. Hate This Place

**A/N: I own nothing. Sucks to be me. Please review – I guess people are reading based on the follows/favourites which is great but would be even more great to hear what you actually think of my little tale.  
On with the show! **

**Hate This Place**

"**I think I love you, but I aint sayin' nothin' you don't know"**

**Damon's POV**

Damon smiled as Katherine stood up and shook herself off before turning to face him with a small grimace. She waved her fingers in his general direction "come on then, show me something" she demanded.

Bonnie laughed "why hello Katherine" she said "nice to see you again too"

"Damon!" Katherine whined, "do you think it's working?" she asked him.

"Well, if I know Elena, and I do" Damon said raising his eyebrows suggestively, he smirked when both girls glared at him, "it's working" he said quietly.

"Okay well let's get this show on the road" Katherine said clapping her hands.

Damon sank down onto the floor wondering what to do. He wanted this to be perfect, it had to be something that was special between him and Elena and for that reason he didn't really want to do it at all but he knew how important it was. He let out a soft groan, he was conflicted.

"What's the problem?" Katherine whispered to Bonnie.

"He doesn't know which memory to give you" she replied quietly with a small shrug of her shoulders.

Damon sat quietly for a long time running memories through his mind of times he and Elena had shared until eventually he stood up and motioned Katherine towards him with his finger.

"Okay" he said, "I got it", placing his hand on the back of Katherine's head he showed her the memory he wanted to give to Elena. Katherine smiled softly at him when it was finished. Damon nodded once and stalked over to where Bonnie was sitting quietly; she reached out and took his hand in her own.

"Well" Katherine said, "I'll be going back then. Sure I'll see you both aga-"

"Wait" Damon said standing up before Katherine could leave again, "tell her.." Damon took a deep breath before continuing "...that when you spend 5 years locked in a cell you learn a few new tricks" he finished with a grimace. "The dream-walking" he clarified when Katherine looked at him clearly bemused.

"Ah, okay" Katherine responded and then she was gone once more.

**Elena's POV**

Elena jumped when Katherine suddenly materialised beside her again.

"That is kinda...freaky" she said with a light laugh before passing Katherine a glass of blood she had had waiting for her.

"Thanks" Katherine replied draining it quickly. "You'll get used to it after a while"

"Sorry I took so long, Damon was being a drama-queen" Katherine teased.

Elena tensed and sucked in a breath at the mention of Damon, she wasn't exactly accustomed to speaking to people anymore and hearing his name spoken so freely sent flashes of pain through her. And jealousy. Yup, she was jealous of Katherine, 'how'd that happen' she thought to herself.

"An-y-way" Katherine broke in to her thoughts, "He wanted me to tell you that when you spend 5 years locked in a cell you learn a few new tricks, I guess that's when he figured out how to dream-walk" Katherine said with a shrug of her shoulders.

Elena looked at Katherine in shock.

"What?" Katherine demanded. "That's what he told me to say!" she waited a minute for Elena to respond and when she didn't decided to just move on. "So do you want your proof or not?" she said with a laugh.

Elena nodded her head "Don't I need to be asleep though?" she asked Katherine.

"No it doesn't work like that" Katherine responded, "if you're awake I just have to touch you and show you the memory, if you're asleep I don't have to touch you. Simple really" Katherine said with a laugh.

"Oh, okay" Elena said softly. It often amazed her how many things she still didn't know about being a vampire, despite being one herself. Although she was fairly certain she'd never learn how to dream-walk like Damon and Katherine did.

Katherine walked the few short paces to stand in front of Elena before reaching up and placing her hand on the side of her cheek and Elena was instantly transported to her bedroom in the house she had burned to the ground. She smiled instantly, knowing exactly what Damon had done.

"_Cute PJ's" _Elena can see Damon sitting on the window seat, a small smirk gracing his beautiful face.  
_"I'm tired, Damon"  
"I brought you this" _Damon said, swinging her vervain necklace in front of her. _  
"I thought that was gone. Thank you, please give it back."  
"I just have to say something"  
"Why do you have to say it with my necklace?" _Elena can hear the slight tone of nervousness in her own voice, even though she knows this memory back to front it feels different this time, it's almost as if she's seeing it for the first time again. _  
"Well, because, what I'm about to say is...probably the most selfish thing I have ever said in my life" _Damon replies almost apologetically.  
_"Damon, don't go there"  
"No, I just have to say it once. You just need to hear it. I love you, Elena and it's because I love you that...I can't be selfish with you. Why you can't know this. I don't deserve you, but my brother does." _Elena watches again as Damon leans down and presses his lips to her forehead, without even realising she lifted her fingers to the same spot as if she could still somehow feel his kiss there.  
_"God I wish you didn't have to forget this, but you do" _Damon finishes his speech tinged with sadness and a single tear and not for the first time Elena feels angry with herself for not doing something to stop him, for not preventing him from taking this away from her.

Katherine removed her hand from Elena's cheek and watched as she sank down on to the bed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Even Katherine had to admit that she was feeling a little, emotional, watching Damon's memory again. Shaking herself off she left the room quietly to give Elena a moment to herself.

Elena allowed a few minutes to give in to the tears before composing herself again. She'd just stood up to find Katherine when she walked back through the door.

"Thank you" she said quietly. "I believe you."


	10. Never Say Never

**A/N: I still don't own the Vampire Diaries.  
Pleased as I am that people are reading this story I am starting to run out of motivation to continue posting it which is sad because this is the first time I've ever published something but if even a few of you who are reading could leave a *review*, even just one little word, that would really mean a lot to me. Special thanks to my frequent reviewer Lissa Salvatore. You make me smile every time! **

**Never Say Never**

"**We're falling apart, and coming together again and again"**

Katherine stared at Elena in shock. "You believe me?" she asked excitedly.

Elena held her hands up "I believe that you're with Damon and Bonnie, yes" she explained. "I **want **to believe you Katherine. I do, I want to believe everything but I'm still...I still don't know" she trailed off helplessly.

Katherine blew out a puff of air. "Okay" she said reasonably, "I get it, Elena I do. I haven't exactly given you a lot of reasons to trust me in the past. I've been a terrible person, done terrible things. But let's not forget I've done a couple of good things as well, right?" she looked at Elena hopefully and then continued when Elena didn't respond.

"I brought Damon the cure when he was bitten, I helped Stefan find his humanity at Homecoming to save Damon's life _again," _she said rolling her eyes and realising that her list of 'good things' was really rather short, still at least they both happened to involve saving Damon's undead life. Third time's a charm she thought with a giggle before resuming her serious expression and continuing "but I get it, like I said, which is why I think we need to get the rest of the gang on board as well" she looked expectantly at Elena.

"You want to get the others?" Elena asked incredulously. "If I can't believe you what makes you think they will?"

"I don't" Katherine responded, "but we're going to need them at some point anyway so we may as well get them all over here and have it out now, it will give you time to consider everything and honestly Elena it's probably about time you started talking to your friends and family again anyway" she said with a smirk.

"O-kay" Elena replied still uncertain, "I guess you're right" she said slightly dejectedly. Honestly this new Katherine was a lot to take in, first she wants forgiveness and to help bring Damon and Bonnie back and now she's trying to get me to talk to my friends again? Maybe she really is changing Elena thought to herself. She pushed herself off the bed and rooted around for her phone in the bedside table, pulling it out she turned it on for the first time in weeks.

"Well I'll just send a group text" she told Katherine, "hopefully everyone will show up" she laughed with uncertainty, honestly Elena wouldn't be surprised if no-one but her brother turned up, she hadn't exactly been great friend material recently.

"They'll come Elena" Katherine replied "they all love you, you just haven't let them do it recently" she rested her hand on Elena's shoulder for a minute before moving away and sitting on the chair beside the bed again.

**Damon's POV**

It had been difficult to watch Elena relive the memory he'd sent to her. It had even made Bonnie cry.

"You've loved her for a really long time, haven't you?" she'd asked him.

"I think I fell in love with her the second I laid eyes on her" Damon had responded, and that thought took his mind back to the day he'd ended up here, stuck in nothingness, waiting.

"_Do you see a future with me? Because that's all I see" _Damon could still feel her hands upon his face as if she was with him now. Those words, all he'd ever wanted to hear, from _Elena Gilbert_, God he wanted that future she saw, he wanted it desperately.  
_"Elena, I've seen it since the second I laid eyes on you" _and it was true, all Damon had ever seen was his future with Elena. All he wanted was a future with her by his side. He'd find a way back to her, she'd bring him back to her.  
"_I will make it back to you, I promise. I promise you." _He'd made a promise to her, and he'd never broken one yet. Didn't intend to start.

**Elena's POV**

"They're here" she said out loud a brief second before the door opened and voices spilled into the hallway.

"Elena", Caroline.  
"Yo, 'Lena, you here?", Jeremy.  
"Hell-ooo, anybody home?", Ric.  
"What's going on?", Tyler.  
"Let's just wait in the living room", Stefan.

Elena smiled as the voices made their way through to the living room and then breathed in deeply, preparing herself to face her friends for the first time in months.

"Okay" she said turning to Katherine. "Let's go see them" moving quickly so she didn't lose her nerve Elena yanked open her bedroom door and walked down the hallway towards the living room. As she entered all the chatter stopped and her friends turned to stare at her their faces ranging from confusion to compassion.

She held her hands up and gave a small smile but as she opened her mouth to speak Katherine strode into the room. Immediately the faces changed to complete and utter shock; Katherine stepped up beside Elena with a sly smile on her face.

"Let's play a little game of guess the doppelganger" she teased.

**A/N 2.0: P.S – Sorry this chapter is so short but originally it was teamed with the next chapter and it ended up being waaaay too long so I split them in two. If some people review I might even be convinced to post the next chapter today as well...so you know what to do. REVIEW! **


	11. Happenning

**A/N: Firstly I own nothing related to TVD – is it necessary to say this every time it just brings me down!  
Secondly: Wow, thank you guys so much for your reviews, every one of them really means so much to me. Lissa – everyone can see Kat, she just had to make a choice about who to seek forgiveness from. I think this is the longest chapter yet, please enjoy.  
On with the show.  
**

**Happening**

"**Whatever's happening is happening here, and I'm a fool, for thinking otherwise"**

"_Let's play a little game of guess the doppelganger" she teased. _

Stefan immediately leapt across the room at an astonishing speed even for a vampire and grabbed Elena around the waist, dragging her away from Katherine. Instantly she started screaming and thrashing against him, clawing at him with her nails, trying to attack him.

"Let her go!" Katherine screeched running up to them and pushing Stefan out of the way.

Elena backed into the corner of the room and sank to the ground muffled screams and sobs coming from her mouth as she tried to get control of herself.

Gingerly Katherine approached Elena "shhh, it's all right Elena" she spoke softly before reaching out and placing her hand on Elena's cheek transporting her into another memory.

"_She's the doppelganger"_ Elena hears Katherine scream at Damon from the inside of the tomb.  
_"She needs to be protected"_ Katherine continues wailing at Damon  
_"Then __**I'll**__ protect her"_ he replies with complete dedication in his voice and burning in his eyes before he closes the tomb door trapping Katherine inside.

The memory ended but Katherine kept her hand on Elena's face stroking her cheek gently and completely ignoring the others, she whispered quietly to Elena for a few seconds until she raised her head with a soft smile and nodded once at Katherine. Katherine removed her hand and backed away from Elena as she stood up and shook herself off before raising her face to look at her friends.

Elena wasn't sure when Katherine of all people had become her protector but she did understand why she had flipped out. Nobody had touched her in three months aside from Katherine and somehow that was okay because Elena felt that all she was doing was giving her what Damon wanted, but she couldn't bear the thought of anyone else touching her and it somehow made it even worse that it had been Stefan. As she looked at him she registered the hurt and shock on his face, everyone else just looked utterly confused.

Taking a deep breath she spoke to her friends for the first time in months.

"I'm so sorry, Stefan" she began, "I didn't mean to..I just, please..don't touch me..anyone" she finished eventually resting her eyes on each of her friends briefly.

"Um..Elena? _What_ is going on here? What's happening? And **why **is Katherine here? I thought **you **were _DEAD_" Caroline turned to Katherine spitting out the words and glaring at her.

"Care, please" Elena said moving to stand beside Katherine, "just, everyone, sit down and listen" she instructed. Caroline and Stefan shared uneasy looks while Jeremy and Tyler just shrugged their shoulders and took a seat. Ric looked at Elena with a pained expression and took a step as if to come to her before nodding his head and sitting down beside the boys.

"Caroline, Stefan, _please_" Elena repeated nodding at the couch. Resigned they took a seat. Elena turned to Katherine with a questioning look but Katherine just raised her eyebrows and waved her hand at Elena as if to say 'the floor is yours'. Elena sighed and threw a mock glare at Katherine.

"_Katherine _has some things she'd like to share with the group" Elena said with a sly smile before turning to Katherine again.

Katherine groaned lightly "well played, El_ena_" she smirked before turning her attention to the cold faces in front of her.

**Damon's POV**

It had been exceptionally painful for Damon and Bonnie to witness Elena's minor freak out. However it had been far more surprising to watch as Katherine was the one to comfort and reassure Elena. It had made sense in a logical way, they'd watched as Katherine once more transported Elena into a memory of Damon, a good choice too, Damon had thought to himself but it was still baffling to see happen.

A small part of Damon was perversely pleased with the reaction Elena had had to Stefan grabbing her, he wasn't entirely sure _why_ she'd had that reaction but it did give him a _tiny_ bit of satisfaction.

He and Bonnie watched as Katherine explained the situation to the group, explaining everything she'd told Elena and catching them up to speed on the last four days.

"Wait for it" Damon smirked..."In, 3, 2, 1"

Sure enough almost as soon as Damon finished speaking the voices became loud and angry, blurring into one and other until they could only make out snippets of what was going on in the living room.

"Are you **INSANE** Elena?"  
"Elena, I know how much you want Damon and Bonnie back, but this is **KATHERINE **we're talking about"  
"Yeah! Katherine who never does **ANYTHING** for anyone!"

After that it was just people shouting over each other for at least five minutes. Damon felt sorry for Elena who was just standing in front of everyone, head whipping back and forward between her friends and trying to make sense of what was going on. For her part Katherine just stood there beside Elena and allowed everyone to shout at her with a resigned expression on her face.

"Why did they think this was a good idea again?" Bonnie asked with a laugh.

"Oh I don't know" Damon responded "if anyone can make them listen it'll be Elena"

**Elena's POV**

Honestly this shouting and bickering was just getting to be too much she thought to herself. She felt like she was getting whiplash from trying to figure out which of her friends were speaking and where all the voices were coming from.

She was entirely shocked that Katherine just stood there and let it all come at her. She'd done nothing to defend herself, just accepted the anger with relative grace. Eventually Elena couldn't stand it any longer.

"**STOP**" she shouted at the group

"_Please_, just stop shouting and fighting" she pleaded with them. Stefan and Jeremy had the decency to look ashamed; Caroline just looked angry and Tyler and Ric seemed more confused than anything else.

"I believe her" Elena spoke quietly.

"Elena you are actually insane!" Caroline squeaked in disbelief as she jumped up off of the couch. Stefan lifted his hand and grasped Caroline's elbow, shaking his head at her.

"**NO**, I'm sorry Stefan, but this is _ridiculous_! I don't know what she's done to you Elena but you are acti-"

"Caroline! Stop it!" Elena shouted at her friend, she understood what she was saying but she **needed** them to listen to her.

"I do believe her. She's proven it to me, I **know** she's with Damon and Bonnie. Don't you understand? Stefan.." Elena looked at Stefan pleadingly, willing him to believe in her. "It's a chance, Stefan, we can get them **BACK**"

Elena spun around to Jeremy, "Don't you _want _to bring Bonnie back, Jer?" she demanded of her brother, "Katherine is **here** and she's offering us a **CHANCE**, we have no idea what to do but with Katherine's help we might all just be able to figure it out!"

"We can get them BACK" she shrieked at her friends, "And I for one am willing to do _whatever_ it takes and trust _whoever_ I need to, to get him..to get them home" she finished softly.

**Damon's POV**

"That's my girl" Damon said with a grin and a laugh; "I told you it'd be her."

Bonnie and Damon watched as the others stared at Elena in mixtures of disbelief and hope.

Stefan was the first to speak up;

"Elena, he's my **BROTHER**, I'll do whatever it takes" he said in a determined voice with a nod of his head. Elena smiled gratefully at him before turning to Caroline.

"Oh my God, Elena, for the record, I think this is INSANITY, but this is the first time you've spoken to anyone in months and you actually look..better for what that's worth, so" Caroline threw her hands up in the air and rolled her eyes "I'm in okay, whatever it takes" she stepped forward and gently touched Elena's hand before moving to step beside Stefan, throwing a glare in Katherine's direction at the same time.

"Well hell, I'm in!" was Jeremy's response, "I mean, I know you killed me and all" he raised his eyebrows at Katherine, "but I'll do anything to get Bonnie back, even if it means working with you" he smirked.

"It's not like I've got anything better to do with my time" Ric laughed, "and if it gets me my drinking buddy back then I am **not** complaining"

"I don't really have a choice..do I?" Tyler said with a laugh.

"No" snapped Caroline and the entire group laughed.

Damon and Bonnie smiled at each other, "Well we've got the gang on board" he said, "maybe we'll get out of here alive after all" Damon jumped off of the couch and started pacing across the room, he was about to speak when Katherine's voice cut in.

**So...let me know what you think, drop me a line, leave me a note, a word, if you love it, hate it, are indifferent...share your feelings. Review! **


	12. Breathe Underwater

**A/N: I do not own TVD or anything related to it. For those of you who have read the Prequel of The Delena Diaries, just to re-iterate I'm not *planning* on continuing it until I've finished Redemption.  
On with the show! **

**Breathe Underwater**

"**Breathe underwater, I'm coming up for air, I wanna see another dawn"**

**Elena's POV**

"You know this is all very well and good" Katherine spoke up "I'm glad everyone has decided to join together once again, but Elena," she turned to face her doppelganger, "none of this will matter if you can't forgive me" she finished with a sad smile on her face.

Before Elena could respond Caroline cut in;

"Well actually, from what I can tell we don't _need_ you to help bring Damon and Bonnie back. I mean, with all of us working together we can probably figure it out, it's not like you know anything we don't; right?" Caroline looked at Katherine who simply nodded, resigned.

"Exactly!" Caroline continued triumphantly, "So technically; Elena could just **not** forgive you, you'd disappear again and the rest of us can get on with bringing Damon and Bonnie home" Caroline grinned triumphantly at Elena but she didn't respond in kind.

"Oh come **on** Elena" Caroline whined, "you can't _seriously_ be considering..."

Elena cut in to Caroline's words, "Care, I just...need some time to process. Everything has happened really quickly and it's been a lot to take in; I don't know what to do right now okay!"

Katherine huffed and flopped down onto the couch, shaking out her curls. She knew there wasn't anything she could do but wait now. Either Elena would forgive her and she would get to stay or she wouldn't and she'd go back to the Dark Dimension for the rest of time. It wasn't exactly a pleasing thought. Just then Katherine was struck with an idea, her face lit up and she stood up excitedly.

"Elena!" she cried out, "I have an idea! Wait here" she pointed a finger at Elena before whirling around and speeding out of the room. Elena threw a baffled look at Caroline and Stefan before shrugging her shoulders and waiting for Katherine to come back.

Minutes later Katherine returned as speedily as she had left clutching one of Elena's handbags in her hand. Elena raised her eyebrows questioningly at Katherine but she just shook her head.

"Elena, you need to" Katherine rolled her eyes "snap my neck again" she said with a sigh.

"_What_?" Elena exclaimed, "Katherine, why?" she demanded.

"I can't explain right now but I need to go back" Katherine told her, "so just...make it speedy" she grinned at Elena.

"Um...ok-ay?" Elena half questioned but she did as Katherine requested anyway.

She turned around and laughed when she saw the blank expressions on everyone's faces, probably due to the fact that Katherine had once again disappeared into thin air.

"Yeah" Elena laughed, "It's kinda creepy, but that's how she gets back to Damon and Bonnie. She has to 'die' out here and then she gets pulled into, wherever they are, I guess..." she trailed off, still unsure of exactly how it worked.

"It's actually kind of therapeutic" she joked "getting to snap her neck all the time, it's like retribution" she giggled and her friends joined in, relieved to see Elena looking better, regardless of who was making it happen.

**Damon's POV**

Damon was still unsure of what Elena was going to do; he'd heard what Caroline had to say and even though he knew that she was right in a way, he couldn't help but believe that Katherine on their side was better than no Katherine at all. Katherine knew people, she had contacts, she'd been alive-ish, for over 500 years, she **could** definitely be an ally...if she could be trusted.

And therein lay the problem Damon thought to himself dryly, who the hell knew if Katherine could be trusted. They'd never really been able to trust her before and no matter what she said now, or how sincere she appeared, they just couldn't be sure.

Damon jumped as Katherine appeared back in the room; he'd been too busy contemplating to fully concentrate on what was happening.

"What happened?" he grinned at Katherine as she rubbed her neck "Barbie kill ya already?" he teased.

"No, actually" Katherine retorted, "I had an idea" she looked down and saw she was still clutching the bag she'd been holding when Elena snapped her neck. "And it _worked_" she said excitedly.

"Katherine...what?" Damon replied confused

"I had an idea" Katherine reiterated holding the handbag aloft "I realised that Elena may or may not forgive me, there's nothing I can do to change that I just have to wait and see what happens. But either way, if she doesn't forgive me then I won't get to come back here, I'll just go straight back to hell" Katherine let out a shaky laugh before continuing, "and if she does forgive me then I don't think I'll be able to come back anymore either, I'll fully be a part of their world again and if anyone does kill me then I'll stay there until I wake up" Katherine smiled at Damon a little sadly.

"O-kay" Damon replied. It made sense, he supposed but that still didn't explain what she was doing here now.

"So...why are you here exactly?" he got right to the point.

Katherine stuck her tongue out at Damon and rolled her eyes, "Well, I figured if Elena doesn't forgive me then this will be my last chance to give her something from you" Katherine held the bag up again but this time she reached inside and pulled out a pen and sheet of paper "So" she said cheekily, "I brought this with me! I wasn't sure if it would work but it did! So now you can write her a note and I can take it back for her and..." Katherine chattered excitedly with a grin on her face.

Damon had to admit it was a pretty genius idea and it thrilled him no end to be able to actually write something, _say_ something to Elena that was his. He broke out into a smile, "Katherine...you are...good" he said with a little bit of awe. Katherine giggled and threw the pen and paper at him leaving him to write as she sat down beside Bonnie.

"Are you really going to stay?" Bonnie asked her, Katherine turned and looked directly at her. "Yes" she replied simply before shrugging her shoulders lightly.

"Look for Lucy" Bonnie told her quietly, "she might be able to help figure out what my grams meant, there MUST be a spell" she insisted.

"Don't worry Bon-Bon" Katherine smirked, "Lucy was always gonna be one of my first stops on the journey" she smiled.

"Done" Damon said breaking into the conversation. He folded up the paper and handed it back to Katherine with the pen "Katherine, can I?" Bonnie reached her hand out for the paper and pen and turned it to the side Damon hadn't used beginning to write.

"While she's doing that" Katherine motioned in the direction of Bonnie before going on "in the hopes of Elena forgiving me, it would probably be a good idea if you shared a couple more memories with me" Katherine said softly to Damon, "you know, in case she freaks the fuck out again"

"_God_" Damon sighed "It's like selling pieces of my soul to the devil" he grimaced causing both Bonnie and Katherine to laugh. "All right fine, you're right...for Elena" Damon rolled his eyes and moved in front of Katherine, placing his hand on the back of her head again, showing her his memories. Bonnie put the letter and pen back into the bag.

"All-righty then!" Katherine said with a clap of her hands, she gripped the handbag tightly and before disappearing again she left Damon and Bonnie with one last goodbye.

"I **PROMISE** we will figure out how to get you both back. See you on the flip side" she grinned at them and then she was gone.

**Elena's POV**

Elena laughed when everyone jumped as Katherine appeared in the living room once again. It was a strange sound; she was so unused to laughing. But it was nice, she felt more content than she had in a long time. She finally felt like she was breathing again, it still hurt, the pain in her chest was still so intense, but she felt, hope, for the first time in so long, she _believed_ in this chance. She turned to face Katherine with a questioning look on her face.

"It worked!" Katherine exclaimed pulling a sheet of paper out of the bag she'd taken with her and waving it at Elena's face,

Elena looked confused, "What is that?" she asked Katherine nervously.

"I didn't want to tell you before I left" Katherine replied, "I didn't want to get your hopes up because I wasn't sure it would work, but I took a piece of paper and a pen from your room, I wanted to give you something from Damon" she smiled gently at Elena and held out the piece of paper to her.

Elena gasped and reached for the letter, walking over to a chair by the window she sat down and began to read.

**Just as a 'by the way', because of the way I write there are a lot of chapters to this already ready to go; although we are catching up. ANYWAY there will be a couple more opportunities for Elena to see/recall Damon's memories; if anyone has any particular favorites then let me know in the reviews and I might try and slip them into the story in the future. **


	13. Amigone

**A/N: I do not own The Vampire Diaries or anything related. Unfortunately.  
Thank you all SO much for the amazing reviews; special thanks again to Hailyebug and Lissa Salvatore.  
Lissa I understand you perfectly; you're English is a lot better than you think it is! I keep trying to PM you but it won't let me so thanks for your ideas – I'm trying to find a place for them! And thanks to everyone who recommended gorgeous Delena moments.  
Hope you enjoy this chapter; on with the show! **

**Amigone**

"**Is it too late to call and tell you to be strong?"**

_Hey Beautiful,  
I can't even begin to tell you how much I miss you.  
There are so many things I want to say to you, but I __**know**__ that you're going to bring me back to you so I'm not going to say all of them now. I'm going to wait until I'm standing in front of you and looking into your beautiful eyes and holding you in my arms again.  
For now, know these things.  
You are so strong Elena, you are literally the strongest person I've ever met in my life, you've been so strong for so long and I know why you haven't been able to keep it up these last few months. But we've got this chance now, Elena, so you need to find that strength inside of you again.  
For what it's worth, I trust Katherine, I think she's being sincere and I think she's going to help you. I know I can't make you forgive her, and I wouldn't want you to force yourself to do something that you're not okay with, but from what I can tell, she's being real. And she could really help, if you let her.  
I love you, Elena. No matter what happens, I believe in you, I believe in us. I want that future that you promised me and I'll wait for you forever. I'm always with you, don't forget that, I'm here all the time you just can't see me. I'm not going anywhere.  
I love you Elena, always have, always will.  
Yours, Damon X  
P.S – Tell Stefan to stop brooding! It's not his fault. D_

Elena sat in the chair gripping the letter in her hand unable to stop the tears. Her heart was breaking all over again. It felt different this time though, she felt like she was crying for everyone, for all of their grief, for Damon's words, for all of the family she'd lost, for everyone they had all lost. She didn't know how to stop and every fibre of her being was screaming at her to switch it off, to make it stop, make the pain go away.

Everyone was silent, watching her, not knowing how to help her and not wanting to touch her after what had happened previously so they just waited for her to break out of it but she just cried endlessly. Eventually Stefan looked at Katherine helplessly; "_help _her" he hissed at her.

Katherine walked slowly over to Elena and placed her hand on her cheek gently, throwing her instantly into a memory.  
"_Let me be clear about something, if it comes down to you and the witch again, I will gladly let Bonnie die. I. Will. Always. Choose. You." _Elena gasped hearing Damon's words repeated in her mind, she looked up at Katherine through her tears. Katherine smiled gently at Elena leaning down to whisper in her ear so the others couldn't hear her.

"Choose him, Elena. Choose Damon. Be strong" she said.

Elena nodded once, defiantly and raised her head to face the group. Katherine was right, Damon had always chosen her, loved her, saved her, time and time again even when sometimes she'd thrown his love back in his face. This was her chance to prove herself; Damon needed her to be strong. So she would be, for him. Swiping her hands across her eyes she smiled gently, "I'm fine" she said quietly, her voice breaking. "I'm **fine**" she repeated, nodding her head once more. "It was just...a lot...beautiful" she turned to Katherine. "Thank you, Katherine. What you did means a lot to me" she smiled before turning to Stefan.

"Damon says to stop brooding, that it's not your fault" Elena said with a light laugh and Stefan smiled at her.

"Um, 'Lena there's something on the back" Caroline spoke "what's it say?" she asked excitedly.

"It's from Bonnie" Katherine interjected, "She wanted to write something too" she added shrugging her shoulders.

"It says..._Elena, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. Bonnie – x" _Elena read out loud, before passing the letter to Jeremy, "she's written to you as well Jer."

Jeremy took the letter and Caroline spun to face Elena, "Why would Bonnie be asking for forgiveness? Why is she sorry Elena?" she demanded.

Elena looked a little guiltily at her friend, "I've been a bit...mad. At Bonnie" she clarified.

"But...why?" Caroline asked her friend.

"She took my choice away Caroline!" Elena exclaimed, "I didn't want to come back until we found Damon, I wasn't ready and I didn't want to leave him but she took that decision in her own hands, she forced me to come back. Don't get me wrong..." Elena threw her hands in the air exasperated, "I get **why** she did it, but I've been really mad all the same. What she did to me wasn't right" Elena ended softly.

Caroline looked at Elena with sympathy, "I get it, 'Lena" she said quietly reaching over to place her hand on her friends arm, "but you **do** know why she had to do it, and we both know Damon would have _killed_ her if she hadn't" Caroline laughed, "you have to forgive her, Elena" Caroline gave her a knowing look before glancing briefly at Katherine and leaning closer to Elena to whisper into her ear, "I know who you are Elena Gilbert. If you can forgive **Katherine**, then you can definitely forgive your best friend" Caroline squeezed Elena's arm once more before moving back to sit down on the couch.

Elena raised her eyes to look at Caroline, "I already have" she told her friend simply.

Elena looked at her brother who was managing to hold himself together despite the wetness reflected in his eyes. She sighed and walked over to him, kneeling down in front of where he was sitting on the couch. She reached out and put her hand on top of his "are you ok?" she asked softly. "I'm so sorry I haven't been there for you Jer, that I've not been strong for you."

"'Lena" Jeremy grasped her hand in his; "it's okay to not be strong for everyone all the time you know!" he smiled at her. "I'm okay sis; Ric, Tyler and Matt have all been helping me get through it. We would **all** have helped you too, if you'd let us" he said slightly reproachfully, "and it's going to be **fine** Elena, we're going to get them back!" Jeremy grinned widely at his sister.

Elena gave Jeremy's hand one final squeeze before standing again and turning to Katherine.


	14. Redemption

**A/N: I know this chapter is quite short and I apologise for that but it really needed to be on its own. I also know some people won't like/will disagree with the direction I have taken Katherine in this story and that's fine.  
Personally I was really let down by the writers in Season 5; they had such a perfect opportunity to create something epic with Katherine and instead turned it into something awful (IMO). For me, that girl desperately craves love and needs redemption. So that's what I'm giving her.  
Anyway – I own nothing related to The Vampire Diaries. Sadly. On with the show! **

**Chapter 14 – Redemption**

"**I see that somewhere in you there is a good heart, there is a good soul,  
For everyone lost in the silence, for every one missing piece  
For every will that is broken,  
No matter how dark it may be  
There is Redemption"**

"Katherine, I'd like to speak to you **privately**" Elena said emphasising the last word and mock glaring at her friends. Caroline giggled childishly behind them as she and Katherine walked out of the room and made their way back to Elena's bedroom.

Elena poured blood into glasses and handed one to Katherine, taking a large gulp of her own before speaking. She noticed Katherine's wary look and watched as it turned to surprise and joy as she spoke.

"I forgive you, Katherine."

She meant it; she truly did, with every part of her. Damon's words had helped her, but she knew that even without them she would have forgiven her anyway. The memories Katherine had shown her of the time she had forgiven her previously rang in her mind, it was a part of herself she never wanted to lose and she truly did believe Katherine had changed in a lot of ways.

Before she could continue with the next part of her speech Katherine squealed and threw her arms around Elena's neck shrieking in delight. "I can't...Elena..._seriously_?" she demanded pulling back and staring into her eyes as if she was trying to compel her.

Elena laughed and shook Katherine off; slightly shocked at the display of affection.

"Yes, seriously. I forgive you for all of your sins" she laughed, rolling her eyes "I meant what I said to you before, you weren't born evil Katherine. I think underneath it all you've got a good heart in there, trying to get out" she smiled gently at Katherine.

"Listen" she said determinedly, "I don't know if you're being truthful about staying and helping us" she watched as Katherine started nodding her head vigorously, "but I want you to" she continued.

"You've never had a friend Katherine, not a real one, you've had people that owed you and people you used for your own gains, but those people in there" Elena nodded her head in the direction of the living room, "those people, could be your friends. **I** want to be your friend, but it's a matter of trust, it has to work both ways Katherine. You have to prove yourself now. You can run off like you always do if you want to, I won't hold it against you, but you'll still be alone in the end. If you stay here, we can work together, we can build a future, all of us. Together. It's your choice" Elena finished and waited for Katherine to respond.

Katherine was silent for a few minutes processing everything Elena had said. She was already shocked enough to have received Elena's forgiveness, but even more so when Elena had said that she wanted to be her friend, that she could actually _have_ friends. Her? Katherine Pierce. She smiled at Elena.

"I'm going to prove myself to you Elena, and to everyone else. I'm going to help you. We will get Damon and Bonnie back, besides I made them a promise when I left and that means something to me. I've told you the truth since I got here and I won't stop now. Let's go back and see what the rest of the gang thinks of this, shall we?" Katherine giggled, Elena nodded and both girls turned to leave.

"Do you feel different?" Elena asked,

"Not really...a little bit" Katherine amended "it feels like something is gone, before it seemed like there was darkness around me, now it feels like that is gone" she gave a small shrug of her shoulders.

"One more thing" Elena said quietly, "I know you love Stefan, but I think you might have some competition for his affections there" she laughed lowly. "Caroline" Katherine muttered under her breath. Elena nodded, "I don't know what's going on there" she said, Elena had noticed that Stefan and Caroline were getting closer and she'd picked up a few of Caroline's tells from when she was crushing on guys before, she vowed to have some girl time with Caroline soon.

"Please" Katherine said "that boy loves me, always has. He just hasn't admitted it to himself yet" she smiled slyly at Elena who just responded by saying "I know" quietly. Elena was surprised to find that she was glad Katherine seemed to have retained _some _of her previous personality.

Katherine looked a little shocked, "besides" she continued "I think we have enough to think about with trying to figure out how to get Damon back before I even _begin_ to worry about my love life" she laughed again and she and Elena walked back into the living room.

**A/N the 2****nd****: Love it? Hate it? Want to kill me for granting Katherine forgiveness after everything she's done? Let me know – Review! **


	15. Bloodstream

**A/N: Because I'm super awesome I decided to give you guys a second chapter today. Also because the last chapter was a shortie. So here you go; a gift from me to you.  
I own nothing. Still sucks to be me.  
Enjoy the show! And remember to review! **

**Bloodstream**

"**I think I might've inhaled you, I can feel you behind my eyes  
You've gotten into my bloodstream  
I can feel you flowing in me"**

**Damon's POV**

"Well, it looks like we're on our own again" Damon said to Bonnie, "which is a good thing really, now that's out of the way they can concentrate on getting us back" he grinned.

Having observed Elena and Katherine's conversation, Damon was in much better spirits than usual. He'd known Elena would find a way to forgive Katherine eventually; she really couldn't help herself his girl. In this case he was just hoping that it was truly worth it. Elena had said she wouldn't hold it against her if Katherine decided to run away again but he sure as hell would!

Still Bonnie seemed to think that she was being sincere when she said she was going to stick around, apparently he'd missed a vital girl chat somewhere along the way. Nevertheless it was Katherine, she might stick around for now, Damon thought, but there was no guarantee it would last. They'd just have to wait and see.

"What's the deal with you and Elena?" he asked turning to frown at Bonnie who was sitting on the couch.

"Basically what she said already" Bonnie replied looking like she was going to break down, "She didn't want to go back, she wanted to wait for you but I grabbed her and forced her back. I took her choice...she might forgive me but I'm worried she'll hate me for it forever" Bonnie did start crying at the end which concerned Damon because he was really no use with people crying, that was Elena's forte.

She was the one who had perfected the art of comfort and advice, union and helping, working together for the greater good. She always knew exactly what to say and do in a disaster, exactly how to help her friends and family. His attempts at comfort and helping normally backfired on him impressively; Damon groaned internally recalling the sire bond debacle and forcing Elena to flip the switch.

"Hey, hey" he said kneeling in front of Bonnie, "first of all, I probably **would **have killed you if you hadn't done that – I mean...if you weren't already...em...anyway" he trailed off and decided to try again.

"Look" he said "if Elena can forgive **me**, and love me in spite of the **multiple **times I've taken her choices or gone against her wishes then she will definitely not hate _you_ forever. I'm sure she doesn't hate you at **all**" he sighed wondering if he was just making things worse.

Bonnie looked at him a little shocked but then she burst out laughing, "Yeah you kind of have screwed up a bunch, huh?" she giggled as Damon nodded his head. Oh well, he thought to himself, crisis averted, apparently he **was** still good for something.

**Elena's POV**

Elena walked back into the living room and smiled at her friends, who were clearly trying to pretend that they hadn't been listening in and failing miserably.

Caroline huffed once when Katherine trailed behind, "She forgave you" she said pointing a finger at Katherine, "Big surprise."

"Caroline" Elena warned as Jeremy laughed but her friend just bounced over to her and gave her a big hug, Elena looked at Stefan over her shoulder and he smiled at her so she guessed everything was all right between them again as well.

Katherine shifted slightly uncomfortably behind Elena, still not used to being somewhat accepted in this group, or at the very least on the way to being accepted. Plus she wanted to get on with things; she was just about to suggest sitting down and starting to plan when Elena did exactly that.

"So" she said after clearing her throat to get attention, "I'm thinking that it would make the most sense if we all stay here at the apartment" Elena gestured around the room with her hands "that way we won't need to split up and there's plenty of room.." she trailed off waiting to see what the others said.

"Katherine" Stefan spoke up quietly, "are you staying?" he asked her.

Katherine looked a little shocked but Elena didn't know whether it was because Stefan was speaking to her at all or because she was offended that people were still questioning if she was going to stay or not but she watched as Katherine visibly shook it off and replied to Stefan.

"Yes" she said, "I'm staying, Stefan. I'm staying because I want to help, because I want to bring Damon back for you, and Elena. I'm staying because I made a promise, to Elena, to Damon, to Bonnie. And that means something to me..." she stopped abruptly looking a little out of depth when she noticed everyone except Elena staring at her in shock and disbelief, feigning nonchalance she shrugged her shoulders and laughed "Besides, it's not like I've got anywhere better to be" and with that she flounced over to the couch and sat down beside Jeremy.

Elena rolled her eyes at Katherine's response; it was typical, break down the barriers a little bit and then throw them back up with a vengeance. Not that she didn't get it; Elena completely understood why Katherine resorted to her tried and true methods of deflection and she knew it would take time for her to really come out of herself and start letting people in again.

Elena just hoped that she stuck around long enough for it to happen. Not just because they could do with her help but because Elena truly did want to ingratiate Katherine in their lives. The girl could use some friends Elena thought to herself dryly. Elena almost laughed out loud as she again questioned how she had ever got to this place in her life with Katherine.

Ric coughed lightly breaking Elena from her thoughts and she clapped her hands once, "okay then, that's settled" she said "so we'll all stay here?" after a brief discussion it was decided that everyone except Tyler and Jeremy would remain in the apartment, Tyler wanted to be at his house in Mystic Falls and there were just one too many vampires around for it to be completely safe with Jeremy in the house so he and Tyler would drive over together each day to regroup. That left Stefan, Caroline, Ric, Elena and Katherine in the apartment.

"So what now?" Stefan asked the group, "where should we start?"

"Bonnie told me that we should find Lucy" Katherine spoke up "and I think that should be one of the first things we do" she added, "she's a Bennett so if anyone can get the ball rolling it's going to be her, the last address I had for her was New York so I call road trip!" she glanced slyly at Elena as she spoke.

"Okay, good plan Katherine" Elena replied, "Stefan, Katherine and I will track down Lucy, we can leave tomorrow if that's alright with you guys?" she asked directing her question at Stefan and Katherine who both nodded, Elena tried to ignore the glare that Caroline was shooting her.

"We're going to need all of Bonnie's grimoires" she continued, "she had all of those ones from the Martins as well, but obviously no vampire can enter Mystic Falls so Jeremy and Tyler can collect them tomorrow and bring them over here" she glanced at Caroline and Ric, "then all of you can start going through them until we get back with Lucy" she finished up wondering when she had become de facto leader of their group.

That was Damon's role and she felt like she'd taken his job. A job that he happened to be exceptionally good at. Elena wondered if anyone ever told him how appreciated he was when he was out there doing all the things that nobody else wanted to do, being the bad guy so everyone else could remain 'good'; it made her heart ache a little. Still, she mused, it certainly felt good to be **doing** something for a change.

"But what are we even searching for?" Caroline demanded a little huffily.

"Anything" Elena replied automatically before shrugging her shoulders, "A spell for bringing people back, I don't know Care, just...look, please." Caroline nodded tersely and Elena sighed.

"Well, we've done all we can for now, I'm going to rest before we head out tomorrow" she said and turned to go to her bedroom.


	16. Undisclosed Desires

**A/N: I do not own TVD – all the goodies to those who do.  
This chapter is especially for Lissa Salvatore – a little Steferine drama for your soul.  
On with the show!**

**Undisclosed Desires**

"**You trick your lovers that you're wicked and divine,  
You may be a sinner but your innocence is mine  
I want to reconcile the violence in your heart  
I want to recognise your beauty's not just a mask  
I want to exorcise the demon's from your past  
I want to satisfy the undisclosed desires in your heart"**

**Damon's POV:**

Damon and Bonnie had spent the evening and morning observing their friends, questioning their methods and discussing the possibility of them eventually going home. They'd watched as Caroline fussed over Ric like a mother hen, evidently she'd been helping him adjust to his new life as an enhanced Original, something that he was struggling with on an, albeit, silent, daily basis.

As Damon had remarked to Bonnie, if he couldn't be there teaching his best friend control then the next best choice was Vampire Barbie.

He'd watched as Katherine trailed after Stefan, following him to his room and hovering over him while he packed until he'd finally succumbed to the pressure and asked her what she wanted.

"_Stefan I'm sorry for everything I've done" _Katherine said contritely but Stefan just barked out a laugh.

"_Katherine, I'm really not sure I want to go down this road with you again. You had me convinced the last time, that you were changing, that you had the ability to be a better person, that you __**wanted**__ to be a better person, but this time" _Stefan paused and looked at Katherine with a pained look on his face, "_you might have Elena fooled, but I'm not so easily convinced Kat"_

Katherine moved closer to Stefan and placed her hand on his arm, Damon knew his brother well enough to understand the inner conflict he felt; the desire to rip her hand away and the need to be a polite gentleman at odds with each other.

"_I know that Stefan, I understand why you feel like that but I wanted you to know that I'm sorry. I love you Stefan, I always have, it's always been you. For me. And I just want you to know that I'm going to fight for us Stefan. I'm going to help you bring your brother home and I'm still going to love you. I'm going to stay, Stefan, and I'm going to fight for it because I know.." _Katherine stopped and grinned at Stefan slyly before dragging her nails down his chest softly..._"I __**know **__that you love me too Stefan. I just want you to be honest with yourself. Honest with me. I'll wait for you"_

Katherine took a step back from Stefan, cocking her head to the right and waiting for him to respond. When Stefan made no move to reply she ducked her head and turned to leave but Stefan grabbed her wrist before she could get very far.

"_Katherine I...I can't think about these things right now. All I can focus on is getting my brother back. That's all that's occupying my mind at the moment..." _it appeared that he wanted to say more but when nothing else was forthcoming Katherine nodded her head before dropping a light kiss on his cheek and leaving.

That particular moment had been slightly difficult for Damon to watch. Not because Katherine loved his brother, he was perfectly aware of that, and cared even less, it was difficult because it reminded him of that horrific night when she'd told him that she'd only ever loved Stefan which had led a drunken him to Elena's bedroom where she'd thrown virtually identical words back at him. "_It's always gonna be Stefan" _as much as Damon hated dwelling on the past, (brooding was for his brother thank you very much) those words were ones that he wasn't sure he was ever going to be able to stop hearing, no matter how many times Elena chose him or told him that she loved him.

It was difficult as well because he felt like he was a peeping tom, intruding on a highly personal moment between his brother and Katherine but there wasn't much he could do about that so he disregarded it after a moment's thought.

Damon wanted his brother to be happy, and he knew that Katherine was right in what she said. Even Elena had agreed. It seemed like everyone knew, (well, except Caroline possibly) that deep down Stefan loved Katherine; he just wouldn't admit it to himself. Or anyone else. But Damon knew that if anyone could get Stefan to admit his true feelings then it would probably be Katherine. 'I can always give him a talking to when I get home' Damon had thought to himself with a grin.

"What are you smiling about" Bonnie piped up sounding a little shocked.

"Oh, just wondering how to get my brother to shack up with the original...sort of...doppelganger" Damon laughed.

"Yeah, 'cause that won't be confusing _at_ all Damon" Bonnie replied, "can you imagine? The four of you living together. How would you be able to tell them apart?" she said giggling.

"Oh please, mistake your girlfriend for Katherine **one** time..." Damon said with a roll of his eyes, "Seriously, I do not **ever** want to talk about that night again; I don't know what happened Bonnie, I've _always_ been able to tell them apart, even more so than Stefan, I know when it's Elena, I can tell. I was just seriously off my game that night. And now this conversation is over. Forever" he added definitively.

It had been bad enough watching Katherine make Elena relive that particular memory without thinking and talking about it as well. Bonnie replied with a nod of her head.

Things had improved remarkably when Elena had woken up in the morning and started talking to them, although they'd been a little surprised at first.

"_Bonnie, I know you're listening to me"_ she'd said and Bonnie had laughed and nodded. _  
"I just want you to know, in case it wasn't real clear yesterday, that I forgive you. You're my best friend Bon, I know why you did what you did. I was unhappy about it, unhappy with you, but I still understood. And I don't hold it against you, I promise. So yeah, totally forgiven and when we get you home I am going to hug you so hard!" _she'd laughed at the end and broken out into a wide smile the likes of which neither Damon or Bonnie had seen for months.

"_Damon...God I miss you so much. Thank you for your letter, it was beautiful. Katherine's really been helping me, I'm sure you've noticed my little panic attacks, so that's good. I'm going to be strong Damon, I promise. And we're going to get you back, both of you. No matter what." _She'd smiled a little more sadly after that _"Damon, I lo-no, you know what, I'm going to wait. The next time I say that it's going to be to your face, well I'm not really sure whether to say bye or not, seems a bit redundant really, so you guys take good care of each other, I hope you're being nice Damon!"_ and then she'd gone back to join her friends leaving Damon and Bonnie laughing in her wake.

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed/favourited/followed my little story so far – you have NO idea just how much you all make my day every time. Please continue to review. **


	17. Drop In The Ocean

**A/N: The only place I own anything related to TVD is in my dreams.  
Thanks to all my readers/reviewers/people who favourite my story and follow my story. Probably wouldn't be doing this without you all!  
On with the show! **

**Drop In The Ocean**

"**I was praying that you and me might end up together, it's like wishing for rain as I stand in the desert but I'm holding you closer than most, cause you are my heaven" **

**Elena's POV**

The morning was spent in a rush of packing essentials for the road trip to New York, Elena wasn't entirely sure how comfortable it was going to be with Stefan and Katherine in the car but they'd made the plans now so there was no going back. She'd just finished zipping her bag when her brother walked into the house shouting her name.

Elena walked through to the living room with Katherine, Stefan and Caroline on her heels. Jeremy had his arms stacked with grimoires, dropping them on the table he instructed them to wait in the living room and walked back outside, returning with a further stack of books.

"So" he stated "while Tyler and I were at Bonnie's grabbing all of these" he pointed to the stacks of spell books, "I had a look around to see if I could find anything else that might be useful to us and I found this" he held up a yellow sticky note and waved it in Elena's direction.

"What is it?" Elena asked before reaching out to grab the note.

"Lucy Bennett's phone number" Jeremy replied triumphantly. "So you guys don't have to go anywhere!" he grinned widely at Elena.

"Oh great! Good work, Jer!" Elena exclaimed, "but, it might not even be her number anymore, she could have changed it for all we know, let me grab my phone an-"

"Actually, I beat you to it. When I found the number I called it and it was Lucy. She's coming 'Lena. She said to tell you that she'll be here as soon as she can, she was going to leave once she'd packed last night" Jeremy looked delighted with himself but Elena couldn't help but notice the brief flash of disappointment that crossed Katherine's face and the look of glee on Caroline's.

"Wow, Jer well done!" she said giving her brother a quick hug.

Katherine let out a little huff, "I suppose I'll just go **un-**pack then" she said to the group and stalked off.

"What's her problem?" Jeremy asked Elena but she just laughed and shook her head, "oh you know Katherine" she replied, "probably just upset that she wouldn't get a chance to fit in some New York clothes shopping" Elena saw Caroline giving her a pointed glare but she just shrugged her shoulders and turned to leave.

"I'll go and unpack my bag real quick and then I guess we can start looking through the grimoires until Lucy gets here okay?" she looked at her friends who nodded at her before making her way to her bedroom.

Elena wandered into her room to find Katherine lying on her bed, curls splayed out across the pillows and arms folded across her chest with a despondent look on her face.

"Comfortable there?" she teased, wandering over and plopping herself down in the chair next to Katherine.

"El_ena_" Katherine whined at her, turning on her side and propping herself up on her elbow so that she was looking at her.

"I was looking forward to road-tripping with you and Stefan" she said sullenly.

Elena let out a little giggle but composed herself when Katherine shot her a glare, "I know" she said, "but you have to admit this way does work better. It saves us a lot of time Kat, now we can all just stick together and keep working instead of spending 2 days on the road."

Katherine puffed out a small sigh "I know, I know" she replied, "I just, I thought it would be good you know? Stefan would be stuck with me in the car with nowhere to go" she laughed "road-trip bonding **is** a proven success you know" she rolled her eyes at Elena before shrugging her shoulders, "but you're right, of course, this is better, I suppose" Elena laughed again wondering not for the first time how she'd gotten to a place in her life where she could girl-chat with her (formerly, it seemed) vicious doppelganger.

"Look" Elena said "if it makes you feel better then I promise when we get Damon back, you, Stefan, Damon and me can **all** go on a road trip together okay?" she had to smile at the look of unbridled joy that flitted across Katherine's face.

"Oh, nice idea Miss Gilbert" Katherine said with a devilish smile, she jumped up off of the bed and shook out her curls before reaching out and grabbing Elena by the hand, pulling her up out of the chair. "New York with our men; that **will** be fun" she teased, "now let's get back to these cookbooks so we can figure out how to get your man home" Katherine slipped her arm across Elena's shoulders and both girls walked out of the room together.

Elena felt a little guilty when she thought about Caroline. She knew her friend was developing feelings for Stefan but Elena couldn't help but believe that they would be better off staying friends. She didn't want her friend to be hurt and she knew as well as Katherine that Stefan was still in love with her, this thought didn't bother Elena in the way it used to. She'd long since come to terms with it and before Damon had...gone...she and Stefan had reached a really good place in their relationship which she hoped they would be able to find their way back to. Elena resolved to talk to both Caroline and Stefan soon and then smiled a little when she heard Katherine refer to the witches spell-books as 'cookbooks', remembering how Damon had once said the same thing.

The girls walked back into the living room together and the next few hours were spent searching through the books, no-one was really sure what they were looking for and eventually Katherine pointed this fact out.

"This is silly!" she'd exclaimed, standing up and brushing dust off of her jeans with a huff, turning around she walked out of the living room before returning with glasses and a bottle of bourbon and passing them round "We have no idea what we're doing, we may as well just wait until Lucy gets here, it can't be much longer now" she smiled slyly at Elena as she passed her a glass and filled it up with the alcohol, "we may as well _try_ and have some fun while we wait."

"Maybe we could call someone else" Caroline spoke up and Elena turned to look at her friend questioningly, "I don't know" Caroline continued shrugging her shoulders, "I can't help but think that Klaus or, even Elijah might be of **some** use in this situation, I mean, they know **a LOT** of witches..." she trailed off.

"Wow" Katherine said, "That...is **literally** the _dumbest_ idea I've ever heard" she said disdainfully, "and I've spent a lot of time hanging out with Damon and Stefan; the Kings of doomed plans!" she laughed and stuck her tongue out at Stefan who smirked back at her.

"Katherine, don't be rude" Elena chided before turning to Caroline.

"I don't think it's the _worst_ idea in history" Elena said to her friend gently, "but I think we should at least wait and see what happens with Lucy before we even **think** about inviting the Originals into our lives again, okay?" she asked her friend.

Caroline looked at her a little sadly and Elena felt bad for her friend, she knew she was struggling without Bonnie, having to deal with Katherine, and now Katherine and Stefan drama.

Caroline was used to being the polly-optimist of the group and it was difficult for her to not have a role, an agenda, flashcards, graphs, a working plan in motion so Elena knew she was only making the suggestion for lack of anything better to do.

"All right" Caroline sighed loudly, "let's wait and see. But I reserve the right to bring this conversation up again in future" she laughed.

"And I suppose this would have nothing to do with wanting to spend some more time with the Original Hybrid...right?" Katherine teased Caroline, giving her a little poke in the ribs.

Elena thought that if it was possible her friend would have turned beet red, she nearly laughed out loud as Caroline flustered and searched the room for an escape before gaining control of herself and turning to Katherine with a glare.

"Katherine!" she exclaimed, "This has **nothing** to do with that. Obviously. I mean...I just thought...witches...oh never mind!" she huffed giving Katherine a little push which made everyone in the room burst out laughing.

Thinking about Klaus made Elena wonder what would happen if he and Kat were in the same room again at any point this century; was he done chasing her?

Obviously he was under the impression that she was dead, but what if he knew she wasn't? Would his love for Caroline allow him to see past his desire for revenge? It had certainly worked in Tyler's case she thought to herself before considering whether she could talk to Elijah on Kat's behalf, if it came to that.

Elena's thought process was interrupted by a knock at the door. She jerked her head up in anticipation as she watched her brother move to answer the door.

"Hi Lucy" Jeremy said excitedly, "please, come inside."

**Please don't kill me – I'm sure some of you were looking forward to road-tripping fun but it was sort of necessary for it to happen this way. If you came and read, please review! **


	18. Strange & Beautiful

**A/N: PLEASE READ THIS BIT:  
I do not own anything related to TVD, all rights go to those who do.  
I really just want to clarify something; from this point on we're getting a lot closer to answers so it's at this point that my mythology might veer off a little bit from the show; I've tried really really REALLY hard to stick to the show world but let's face it; Season 5 was a bit of a mind-fuck so there WILL be things I've gotten hopelessly wrong and just made fit right for the sake of this...well it IS fan-fiction.  
Anyhoo, that's enough from me! On with the show!  
**

**Strange & Beautiful**

"**I'll put a spell on you, and when I wake you I'll be the first thing you see"**

**Elena's POV**

Elena jumped up off of the couch and hurried to the front door to join Jeremy. "Lucy" she exclaimed brightly, "thank you **so** much for coming, come in come in", Lucy followed Elena and Jeremy through to the living room and glanced around the room, seeking out the people she recognised and the people she didn't before her eyes rested on Katherine.

Immediately she began backing up, eyes darting frantically between Elena and Katherine, "what's going on? You've tricked me here to **KILL** me?" she demanded before turning her gaze on Katherine, Elena assumed she was trying to do the brain-pain spell like Bonnie used to do so frequently on Damon but it didn't seem to have much effect on Katherine who just stood up and shook out her curls with a smile.

"Relax, relax" Katherine spoke to Lucy with a wave of her hands, "I'm a good girl now, no revenge, no payback and absolutely **NO** un-necessary killing. And you my _dear_, old friend, are **definitely **necessary, so let's say we put the past squarely where it belongs, shall we?" she said with a little giggle

Elena rolled her eyes at Katherine, "It's true Lucy, Katherine is...uh...different...now. And we really really need your help. **Bonnie** needs your help. We asked you here so we can all work together, and Bonnie suggested to Katherine that we search for you. We can explain everything to you but I promise you Katherine is being sincere, in her own way, she won't hurt you" Elena looked at Lucy as she tried to process everything that had been said. She still seemed a little unsure but finally nodded her head in agreement.

"Okay" Lucy replied, "If it's all the same to you I think I'll avoid being left alone with you though Kat, for the time being." She turned to Elena, "why don't you show me where to put my things and then you can fill me in on what's going on and we'll see where to go from there"

Elena was beyond relieved that Lucy was going to stay and help, truth be told she hadn't even really considered how Lucy would react to Katherine's presence, it made sense for her to be scared, but Lucy's only family was at risk and she was a Bennett, family comes first. Elena directed Lucy to one of the guest rooms, thinking that if they had any more guests there was going to be nowhere for anyone else to sleep. She'd already had to move Katherine into her own bedroom to make room for Lucy, although Katherine had teased that she'd rather be sharing with Stefan.

After returning to the living room Elena introduced Lucy to the people she didn't know and they spent some time chatting before Lucy turned to the business at hand.

"Kat, I need you to explain to me what the place was like that you were held with Bonnie and Damon" Katherine had already filled Lucy in on what Bonnie knew, that her gram's had made some sort of arrangement for her after the destruction of the Other Side but that nobody was really sure what it meant, exactly. She now gave Lucy, and the others, details of the strange space where she had spent time with Damon and Bonnie, she explained it as being a 'limbo' which Lucy agreed with.

"We know it's not the Other Side" Lucy said, "the Other Side is gone now, which means that if any of us die, we really die, the Gilbert rings won't work anymore because there is nowhere to go now. It seems that Bonnie and Damon have reached a middle point, a space in between, which I can only assume was something created by the witches on the Other Side while there was still time, a way to try and preserve our bloodline, they haven't fully passed on which means that there **IS** a way to bring them back" Lucy smiled up at Elena as she said this.

Elena grinned "well how do we do it then?" she asked urgently.

"That's the problem" Lucy said apologetically, "I don't know yet" she gave a shrug and picked up one of the grimoires off of the floor, "there will be a spell in one of the grimoires, similar to a resurrection spell..."

"Wait!" Jeremy exclaimed, "A _resurrection_ spell? But that's how Bonnie brought me back before and it **KILLED** her...who are we going to fin-"

"Stop" Lucy cut in holding her hand up to prevent him from going on, "not **all** resurrection spells come from dark magic Jeremy, some resurrection spells come from purity, from light, from love. We just need to find it."

"But doesn't nature always require a balance?" Caroline asked, "I mean that's the way it's always seemed before, John had to die for Elena, sorry 'Lena" she threw an apologetic glance at her friend before continuing, "Bonnie died for Jeremy, **someone** died for Bonnie although so many people died _that_ night I'm not sure which one it was" she said with an exasperated sigh.

"No Caroline" Lucy replied, "the spell Bonnie cast to bring back Jeremy killed her because she was using too much magic at once, magic that was much too powerful for her alone, magic that came from the darkness. In this case nature will balance itself in its own way. Bringing Bonnie and Damon back should theoretically bring Bonnie back as a witch. _That_ is nature's way."

"But what about Damon?" Elena asked uncertainly.

"We will bring them both back Elena" Lucy said turning to face her but Elena shook her head, Lucy was misunderstanding her question.

"No, you said Bonnie will come back as a witch, that it was nature's way. But Damon...Damon is a vampire, that is **not** nature's way, I mean, will he come back as a vampire...or a human?" she asked softly.

Lucy smiled a little at Elena, feeling sorry for the girl. "Honestly Elena, I'm not even sure how Damon is **with** Bonnie. He shouldn't be, I know that much. The loophole was created for Bonnie, in order that she might be able to return somehow, how Damon fits into that I have no ide-"

"They were holding hands" Jeremy interrupted softly, "The last time I saw them, Damon and Bonnie were holding hands" he reiterated.

"Well there you are then" Lucy smiled, "Damon is obviously there by default, in a way. Nature will create its balance through Bonnie, Damon will return to you as he left you."

Elena let out a huge sigh of relief and saw Katherine smirking at her, "_What_" she demanded, mock glaring at her doppelganger. "Nothing, nothing" Katherine replied giggling and holding her hands up in surrender.

**Damon's POV**

"Well thank **fuck** for that" he snorted after hearing Lucy tell Elena that he would return fully vamped which made Bonnie laugh.

"All that and you're most grateful you get to remain one of the living dead?" she asked with another laugh.

"Hey I said it before, and I'll say it again; I like being the eternal stud" he smirked while indicating himself, "obviously that's not what I'm _most_ grateful for though" he added with a small smile, "I'm not supposed to be here, Bonnie" he sighed, "you saved my life" he said softly.

"Well don't forget it when we get back; I'd hate to have to kill you all over again" she teased him.

"So how does it feel knowing you'll get to be a fully-grown witch again?" he asked with a laugh.

"It's good Damon" Bonnie responded, "I'll actually be able to be useful again, should the need arise, which I **sincerely** hope it doesn't! But you have **NO** idea how awful it was to know everything that was happening, to watch it all go down and not be able to do _anything_ to stop it. I've never felt so useless, it was beyond awful" she huffed.

"I've never seen the type of spell Lucy mentioned" Bonnie continued, "I mean, I haven't been through all of the grimoires, and I know those spells do exist, but I've never come across one."

"Well I guess we'll just have to sit back and watch" Damon said flopping down on the couch with a sigh, "not like we've got anywhere else to be right now anyway."

**If you came and read, please review! **


	19. Because I Want You

**A/N: I do not own the Vampire Diaries. If I did I'd be writing season 6 instead of fan-fiction.**

**Because I Want You**

"**Don't give up on the dream, don't give up on the wanting  
And everything that's true  
Because I want you too, Because I want you"**

**Elena's POV – (Day 1)**

After all the explanations and talking Elena was feeling completely drained, she stood up and turned her attention to her friends. "I think we could all use some time to recover and rest. Let's agree to get started on the grimoires tomorrow morning okay?" everyone agreed with her and Elena said goodbye to her brother before sending him home and making her way to her bedroom.

Grabbing a blood bag she poured glasses for herself and Katherine knowing she would be along in a second. Katherine was still having a slightly hard time adjusting to being part of the group and she didn't like being around the others very much when Elena wasn't there so she'd become Elena's literal shadow over the last few days. She knew it would just take time for Katherine to adjust and relish in the feeling of being accepted and wanted and Elena had managed to speak quietly to her friends at different times to make a point of asking them to try and include Katherine.

Elena was fairly sure that at the very least Caroline and Stefan still thought that she was being silly; they still believed that Katherine was going to turn tail and leave at any given moment but Elena didn't. And until Katherine gave her reason to believe otherwise she wanted her friends to give her a chance. Sure enough Katherine walked through the door a few seconds later, her high heels clattering on the wooden floorboards. Throwing herself down on the bed she gazed up at the ceiling for a few moments while Elena searched through her drawers.

"What'cha lookin' for?" Katherine asked playfully, sitting up and taking a drink, "mmm, thanks" she grinned indicating the glass Elena had left for her.

"You're welcome. I'm looking for my journal" Elena responded distractedly. "Damon bought it for me before I went to college, but I can't find it"

"Hmm" Katherine replied, clearly bored, grinning she decided to turn to more interesting topics. "It was funny how relieved you were when Lucy said that Damon would come back a vampire" she stated, managing to somehow turn it into a question at the same time.

Elena gave up on her search with a sigh, assuming the journal must be back in Mystic Falls she made a mental note to ask Jeremy to collect it for her and sat cross legged on the bed beside Katherine.

"Why is it funny?" she demanded, "You **know **Damon would hate being human...I think he used to miss it, maybe, a long time ago, but he definitely changed his mind, besides.." Elena paused, indicating herself with her hands, "_I'M_ a vampire, and I don't exactly relish the thought of spending eternity without Damon by my side. I think we can all see how well I cope with that turn of events" she said with an exasperated huff.

Katherine smirked and nodded her head thoughtfully, "even still, you could have just turned him again"

"Oh my god, Kat are you serious?" Elena all but shrieked, "You think I could **KILL** Damon?" she shuddered and Katherine rolled her eyes

"You wouldn't have to do it Elena, I'm sure there would be people happily lining up to kill Damon" Katherine laughed gleefully, stopping abruptly when she saw the look on Elena's face.

Elena huffed out a sigh, "it doesn't even matter" she said "he's coming back the way he left. Vampire" she said definitively before falling silent for a few minutes.

"Katherine?" Elena eventually spoke up again.

"Mmhmm"

"What was Damon like...as a human?" she asked softly, "He never really talks about it" she added.

Katherine rolled over to lie on her stomach, "Well Damon is like me in a lot of ways" she replied, "He doesn't like to dwell on the past" she explained.

"As a human Damon was really very –"a knock on the door cut Katherine off before she could continue.

"Come in" Elena shouted.

Caroline came bouncing into the room and stood at the end of the bed looking at the two versions of Elena in front of her, "is this a private party or can I join in?" she asked with a giggle.

"Of course you can join us Care" Elena replied, happy that her friend had come seeking them out, "Katherine was just about to tell me what Damon was like as a human" she explained.

"Oh...goody" Caroline said slightly sarcastically before rolling her eyes and flopping herself down on the bed in the middle of Katherine and Elena who both laughed at her.

"An-y-way" Katherine said when she had finished laughing, "as I was saying, Damon as a human is little different from how he is now" Katherine shrugged her shoulders lightly, "minus all the killing and fangs of course" she laughed softly.

Straining her neck slightly to look at Elena she continued, "He was very passionate, loyal, devoted...a little too mushy for my tastes..." Katherine smirked as Elena and Caroline both glared at her, "What?" she said indignantly, "**YOU** asked; but he was...he was free, in spirit, in life, in every way really, he possessed this fire..." Katherine trailed off, reflecting quietly for a moment, "this fire for life" she continued, "it's what drew me to him, drew people to him really; no matter what life threw at him, no matter how hard it got, he was always ready for it, always prepared, always full of fire" she stopped for a moment before adding softly, "it's the thing I loved most about him."

Elena was touched by Katherine's honesty, and also slightly shocked at her final statement.

"So you **did** love him, then?" she asked Katherine.

"In a way, Elena" she responded, "and I say this with the full knowledge that Damon is listening to every word I say" she grinned, "yes, I loved him in some ways, but not in the **same** way that I lov-" Katherine stopped her sentence abruptly glancing briefly at Caroline before flicking her eyes away.

She jumped up off of the bed and brushed off her jeans, "Well" she huffed, "I think that's enough reminiscing about the past for one day, I'm going to find Lucy and try and make nice" she said before speeding out of the room.

Caroline turned to look at Elena with a slightly confused expression, "what was _that_?" she asked her friend.

"Katherine" Elena replied as if that one word explained everything, she was silent for a few minutes before turning back to Caroline.

"Caroline" she began, unsure of how to tackle this conversation.

"Uh-huh"

"What's going on between you and Stefan?" Elena asked, deciding to go with the direct approach.

"What do you mean Elena? Nothing's going on. There is nothing going on between me and Stefan. Why would you even ask that?" Caroline replied anxiously.

Elena laughed, "Care, don't even...I know you, I know you have feelings for him, I just want you to be honest with me and tell me what's going on" she looked at her friend expectantly.

Caroline huffed and faced Elena, "Well, it's true, what I said. Nothing **is** going on, but yeah...I guess, I think I have some feelings for him, I mean he's one of my best friends and he's always been there for me and it's just developed into something else I think...but Elena, I'm not stupid. I know Katherine is _madly_ in love with Stefan and I'm pretty sure Stefan feels the same way even if he won't say it out loud." Caroline smiled a little sadly, "I'll deal with it...my feelings I mean" she clarified. "Nothing's going to happen between us, we're better as friends anyway" she said decisively.

"Besides" Caroline giggled, "if all else fails there's always Klaus" Elena laughed at her Caroline's persistent optimism but she was glad that she'd had this conversation, and that her friend seemed to understand the limitations of her relationship with Stefan. Elena gave Caroline a quick hug before saying goodnight and trying to get a good rest before tackling the witches' spell-books the next day.

**Damon's POV – (Day 3)**

For three days Damon and Bonnie had sat watching their friends try to come up with a plan to save them, he'd listened to Katherine tell Elena what he'd been like as a human with little interest, Katherine was right when she had said that Damon didn't like to dwell on the past.

On the third day he could see that tensions were getting high and everyone was becoming more than a little frustrated with the lack of progress they had made. The grimoires that had been pored over were stacked high and there were very few left to go through.

"Would it be tempting fate of me to say that I'm getting slightly concerned?" Damon asked Bonnie despondently but she just shrugged and smiled a little sadly.

Damon almost gave up hope entirely when Lucy angrily threw the final grimoire across the room in a huff.

"_There's __**NOTHING**__ here" _she'd shouted angrily all but stomping her foot in frustration. _"I can't find __**ANYTHING**__ and I don't understand!" _she'd taken a minute to calm herself down slightly before turning to Elena.

"_I'm sorry Elena, there's nothing in these books. I can't find the spell we need and I don't know what else to do. There are no grimoires left, and I don't know where else to go for help" _Lucy had told her dejectedly.

Bonnie had gotten a little emotional and Damon had worried that Elena was going to morph into another panic attack so he was surprised when she'd just thrown her hands up in the air with an exasperated sigh before turning and running out of the front door, leaving everyone else staring after her.


	20. Future Starts Slow

**A/N: This is literally one of my absolute favourite chapters of this entire story so I sincerely hope you all like it and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I really recommend you listen to the song accompanying – it's by The Kills and it is wicked good.  
So this is especially for any mini (or massive) Klaroline shippers.  
I do not own the Vampire Diaries or anything related to it. I own Damon in my dreams though – does that count?  
On with the show! **

**Future Starts Slow**

"**I'll never give you up, if I ever give you up my heart will surely fail  
But don't ever give me up I could never get back up  
No longer will I curse the bad I've done  
You can holler, you can wail  
You can blow what's left of my right mind  
I don't mind"**

Everyone turned and stared at the door Elena had just left through in shock.

"I'm sorry" Lucy said, "I didn't mean to get her so upset; I just don't know what to do next."

Caroline jumped up off of the couch muttering "I do" under her breath before speeding out of the room with Katherine on her heels.

"I'll...go and find Elena" Stefan said to the others; "just stay here, I'll bring her back."

Stefan didn't have to look far to find Elena, he crossed the road to the park that was directly opposite the apartment and walked for a few minutes before finding her sitting on a bench. He approached slowly, scared of sending her flying into another meltdown and being unable to do anything about it so he was relieved when she looked up at him and smiled softly.

"I'm sorry Stefan" she said; "I just needed to get out of there, honestly I don't know **why** I thought for **ONE** second that bringing them home would be so simple" Elena let out a huff and shrugged her shoulders.

"I know Elena" Stefan replied, "but it's not over; we'll figure something else out. There are other witches, other grimoires, there will be a way. We **WILL** get them back" he added definitively.

Elena smiled at Stefan again, "You know, you and Damon are so similar in many ways; you both always know exactly the right things to say; how do you do that?" she asked with a laugh.

"Decades of experience" Stefan teased. "Do you want to go back now?" he asked.

"Not just yet" Elena responded, "let's sit here and enjoy the sunshine for a few minutes; this is the first time I've been outside in months", Stefan reached out and took Elena's hand in his and they sat in silence together.

_Meanwhile at the apartment:_

"Caroline, this is **not** a good idea" Katherine said as she followed Caroline to the guest bedroom.

"Katherine there are **NO** other options now, I told you before that I was reserving the right to do this in the future. Well the future is **NOW**" she replied huffily.

Katherine rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air resigned; "Fine. Fine" she spat, "But don't say I didn't warn you when it inevitably backfires horribly on you...and I'm staying here, I want to hear this conversation."

"Katherine! No you are-"Caroline looked up and saw Katherine standing glaring at her with her arms crossed across her chest, "Fine. Okay whatever, stay then. You know..." she trailed off pointing her finger at Katherine, "I think the reason you don't want me calling is because you're worried about what will happen if Klaus finds out you're...undead again"

"Very astute Caroline" Katherine snapped, "that is a concern, yes" she added softening her tone slightly, "although what he doesn't know can't hurt him, right?" she looked at Caroline warily and watched as the girl shook her head, blonde curls shaking wildly; "I'm **NOT** going to tell him Katherine. But this might be our last chance, so I _have_ to do this; for Elena."

Katherine puffed knowing that Caroline was right but hating it all the same, she nodded her head at Caroline and watched intently as she pressed a number on her phone and held it to her ear. The phone rang three times before Klaus answered,

"_Caroline, what an unexpected surprise to hear from you so soon, to what do I owe the pleasure?" _

_Katherine flinched slightly hearing Klaus's voice through the phone, although entirely unused to hearing him speak with such...devotion. Inwardly Katherine cringed feeling a pang of sympathy for Caroline. _

"_Klaus" Caroline began, "I need your help"_

"_What is wrong?" Klaus demanded instantly, "You can't possibly have run into a werewolf, has someone __**HURT**__ you Caroline?" Klaus's voice changed abruptly sounding for all the world like he would rip apart anyone who dared to touch her. _

"_No, No Klaus, I'm fine" Caroline hurried on; she went on to explain the situation to Klaus and asked him if he could help again. _

_Katherine heard Klaus's sigh of relief down the phone and there was a pause before he spoke again, _

"_I will have someone deliver Esther's grimoires to you Caroline, hopefully you will find what you're looking for and you can return them to me when you see fit"_

_Caroline looked both relieved and dejected at the same time, "So, you're not...coming, then?" she asked quietly causing Katherine to smirk at the evident disappointment in her tone, clearly Caroline's feelings for the Original Hybrid ran a little deeper than Katherine had known. _

"_I'm sorry Caroline" Klaus spoke again, disappointment clouding his tone also, "I would be there in a minute if I could be, but there are...complications" he said with a sigh, "I will help you in any way I can though, I am glad you called me" he added softly. _

"_Me too" Caroline replied. _

"_Now love," Klaus spoke up, _

"_Put Katerina on the phone please"_

_Katherine and Caroline exchanged frantic glances and Katherine started looking for an escape route until Caroline stopped her gently, laying her hand on her arm and shaking her head at Katherine. After a moment Caroline turned her attention back to the phone. _

"_Klaus...how did you..." she didn't finish her sentence, unsure of what to say and Klaus laughed,_

"_Really Caroline, I told you once, I intend to be your last love, for this I require you to stay alive long enough. Do you honestly believe that I would not have someone watching over you?" he asked, laughing still. _

"_I...um...I..." Caroline trailed off completely shocked and unsure of what to say or do. _

"_Now, put Katerina on the phone please" Klaus demanded again. _

_Wordlessly Caroline handed the phone to Katherine and shot her a look of sympathy which Katherine returned with a glare. Visibly shaking off her fear Katherine lifted the phone to her ear. _

"_Klaus" _

"_Ah, Katerina; how utterly unsurprising it is that you have somehow managed to evade death yet again" _

"_What do you want Klaus?" Katherine demanded. _

"_Come now love, is that any way to treat the man offering you freedom?" Klaus asked with a laugh. _

_Caroline jerked her head up and stared at Katherine in shock. _

"_I...you...__**what**__?" Katherine spoke again, "Why should I believe you?" she asked. _

"_Well let's just say I'm feeling benevolent" Klaus said, "You've evaded death...what, 3 times now, at least? And you simply refuse to stay dead; I have to say I rather admire your persistence Katerina, and I have better things to do with my time than chase you down. I give you my word and if you wish to see Elijah again you are welcome in New Orleans. Put Caroline back on the phone now." _

_Caroline retrieved the phone from Katherine and ended her conversation with Klaus, Katherine was too caught up in her own thoughts to concentrate on the end of the phone call. _

Elena walked back into the apartment with Stefan and went searching for Caroline and Katherine. She found them in a state of shock and joined in that feeling when they both explained what had happened.

"Caroline...he has people 'looking out' for you?" Elena asked after digesting everything she'd been told.

"Honestly Elena" Katherine huffed, "everything we've said and _that's_ what you want to talk about?"

"Shhh Katherine" Caroline admonished, "Yes Elena, that's what he said" she giggled a little bit but stopped when she saw the reproachful look on Elena's face.

"Honestly Elena, I know you're not happy about the whole Klaus drama and I understand; he's been a horrible person, done horrible, terrible things. But you'd think that you of all people would be more understanding; you've forgiven everyone around you for doing horrible things!" Caroline huffed with a pointed glance at Katherine.

"We've **all** done horrible things; sure Klaus probably takes the cake; but people **can** change Elena. He's been...better, different. Isn't that what happened with Damon, Elena? Weren't **YOU** the one that brought the good man out of Damon? That saw his humanity when no-one else even bothered to look and fought _battles_ to save it? How is this so different?" Caroline demanded angrily of her friend.

Elena sat quietly for a few minutes thinking about what her friend had said; she knew that Caroline was right in a lot of ways; but Klaus had done much worse than Damon ever had; then again, he'd also tried to do good as well. Elena decided to quit while she was ahead and just be supportive of her friend.

"Do you love him, Caroline?" she asked gently.

"I...no, Elena, I don't think so...I don't really know" Caroline fell silent for a few minutes contemplating the question.

"I'm not in a place right now where I can give Klaus what he wants from me; I care about him, very, very much. Probably **too** much" she laughed before continuing, "but I think that one day...one day I **will** be in a place where I can give him what he wants. One day I _will_ be his, and I'd like you to still be my best friend on that day." Caroline admitted relieved to finally get her feelings out in the open.

"Okay" Elena said simply getting up off of the bed and giving her friend a hug; "I can get on board with that."

The girls sat quietly for a while until a knock on the door broke them out of their collective thoughts. Jumping up Caroline raced to the front door followed closely by Katherine and Elena.

"Delivery for Miss Caroline Forbes" the man at the door spoke up.

"That's me" Caroline replied holding her hands out for the box in the man's hands. "Thank you" she told him before he left.

Carrying the box into the living room she set it down on the coffee table and opened it, she pulled out a long blue velvet jewellery box and set it aside with a little giggle, ignoring the questioning looks on her friends' faces before pulling out two dusty grimoires.

"All right" Lucy said reaching her hand out for one of the books, "Let's get started again, shall we?"

**Damon's POV**

Damon was left pondering his apparent similarities to Klaus and it reminded him of their frank conversation in the basement of his house; when he'd been locked up after being compelled to kill Jeremy.

"_Ah yes, for the love of Elena. How is it that she manages to overlook every horrific thing you've ever done? Is it wilful ignorance, or perhaps something more pathological?" _Honestly at that point Damon hadn't a clue how Elena could love him despite his numerous flaws; but he wasn't about to tell Klaus that.

"_Some people are just more capable of forgiveness than others...__**I**__ think this has something to do with a certain blonde vampire. __**I**__ think you murdered Carol Lockwood, and __**I**__ think you're worried that Caroline's never going to forgive you"' _Very cleverly deduced Damon' he'd thought to himself at that time, 'ten points to me'.

Klaus had responded that Damon had done worse but he knew that he hadn't really, Damon supposed the worst thing he'd ever done to Elena was snapping her brother's neck but he'd managed to somehow recover from that, eventually; although maybe force-feeding her his blood was considered worse...Damon shuddered, stopping his trail of thought before it got any darker, instead he remembered the best piece of advice he'd given Klaus; and considered now that maybe the Hybrid had taken it more to heart than he'd ever thought he would.

"_See, I don't mind being the bad guy, because somebody has to fill that role and get things done. You do bad things for no reason. You do them to be a dick...if you're gonna be bad, be bad with a purpose. Otherwise, you're just not worth forgiving." _

Damon supposed he did have more in common with Klaus than he'd like to admit; maybe love really could save the world he thought dryly.

**P.S – As I said, this was absolutely one of my favourite chapters to write and I love it so please please please review and let me know what you thought...even if you hated it I won't mind you telling me. Just nice to hear from folks. **


	21. Taking Over Me

**AN: Remember what I said before about the mythology? Well this is where it really comes into play. I'm taking some creative license here! Thank you all SO much for the amazing reviews for yesterday's chapter; really meant a whole lot to me. This was a difficult one to write so I hope you enjoy it.  
I own nothing. Woe is me.  
Enjoy the show!**

**Taking Over Me**

"**I believe in you, I'll give up everything just to find you  
I have to be with you  
to live, to breathe  
You're taking over me"**

After a couple of hours spent searching the new grimoires Lucy stood up excitedly;

"I've found it!" she exclaimed joyfully. "Here, come here" she gestured to the others to gather round and pointed to the spell with her finger.

"Well explain it then, we don't all speak witch" Katherine piped up earning her a glare from Stefan but she just smiled at him and shrugged her shoulders.

"All right, hold on" Lucy sighed, "let me read it through first" she was quiet for a few minutes before turning around, "Okay, you, you and you" she pointed at Katherine, Stefan and Elena, "sit down over there, you three are the main components of the spell."

Stefan, Katherine and Elena exchanged confused looks but made their way to the couch and took a seat.

"It's like I said" Lucy began, "it's similar to a resurrection spell but it's bound by blood and a true-love bond, we need to perform the spell on the next full moon, we require the blood of two doppelgangers, Stefan, Katherine that would be you"

Stefan rolled his eyes "of course" he said wearily earning him a confused look from Katherine.

"It's Esther's spell" he explained, "of course it requires doppelgangers...I wonder if any of her spells **don't** require a doppelganger" he snapped causing Elena to laugh.

"It's actually not that, Stefan" Lucy spoke up, "this spell is bred from true-love; and the doppelgangers only exist because of a bond so strong that it defied the laws of nature, so naturally the doppelgangers blood is required to complete the spell" she explained.

"Hold on" Katherine interjected, "how much blood are we talking here?" she asked slightly worried.

"Not much" Lucy replied, "a few drops really, mixed together" she smiled at her old friend and Katherine looked relieved.

"Where do I come in?" Elena asked.

"Well this is where it gets a little..." Lucy stopped, searching for the words to explain, "I don't know how you're going to feel about this; the only way to bring them back is to bind Damon to you, yours is the bond of true love, his blood created you; it runs in your veins; so combining your blood, with the doppelgangers will bind Damon to you enabling us to perform the spell and bring him back."

She looked at the others to see if she was making sense and waited for them to respond.

Elena sat silently trying to take it all in so Katherine asked questions on her behalf.

"What exactly does that mean, Damon will be bound to Elena? And what about Bonnie?" she demanded.

Lucy took a deep breath and dropped down to the floor in front of them, "As far as Bonnie goes, Damon and Bonnie must do exactly what they did when they died; if Bonnie is holding Damon's hand when we cast the spell then Damon will bring Bonnie back as she did for him" she stopped and looked at Elena before continuing.

"Being bound to Damon will be similar to the spell I did for Katherine at the Masquerade Ball" she shot Katherine a glare before going on "Your life and his will be tied for eternity; if he dies, again...you die, if you die...he dies" she smiled softly at Elena before reaching out and patting her on the knee. "This **is** the only way Elena, but you need to understand what you're doing and you need to be willing to do it. You need to take some time and think about this before you agree."

**Damon's POV**

Damon sat staring at Bonnie in shock; everything had been going really fucking well until that last part.

No, no, no, no, no.

"No" he said out loud. "Absolutely _not_" he shook his head at Bonnie as if willing her to do something but she just sat there resolutely.

"You know she's going to do it Damon"

"No. No Bonnie I don't **know** that. This is fucking crazy. If she does this I'll kill her myself" he groaned and dropped his head to his hands for a minute before looking up again, "there **has** to be another way, there is **ALWAYS **another way Bonnie" he shouted.

"Well somehow, Damon, I don't think they're going to **look** for one!" she replied, Bonnie knew her best friend, she knew that Damon knew as well, he just didn't want to accept it for some reason that she couldn't work out.

"What's the big problem here Damon?" she demanded, "I mean, I thought you _wanted_ Elena forever" Bonnie cocked her head thoughtfully to one side, "or are you scared you're going to get bored of her after 100 years and never be able to get rid of her?"

Damon snapped his head up and growled at Bonnie. "You've got to be kidding me!" he spat out, Bonnie held her hands up defensively but shrugged her shoulders and looked confused nonetheless.

"I **love** Elena" he ground out, "There's nothing I want more than to be with her for eternity; but I've done a lot of bad things Bonnie, my past was not exactly roses and fucking butterflies; there are people out there who will gladly try to kill me. I don't care about me; I care about **her**. There aren't many people out there who could actually kill me, but there are people who could _hurt_ me. And that would hurt **her**. Okay?"

Bonnie nodded her head, understanding the issue now; she knew it wouldn't make a difference, Elena wouldn't even be considering the things that Damon was; but she understood why it made Damon upset.

"I'm sorry" she said quietly, "I didn't mean to question your love for Elena"

Damon snorted, "Yeah...you did" he replied, "but it's okay, I'm kind of used to it" he looked resigned.

"Listen Damo-" Bonnie started to speak when Elena's voice cut in.

**Elena's POV**

"I agree" Elena said simply, nodding at Lucy, "When is the full moon?" she asked.

"Elena" Stefan spoke up, "you need to think about this, you need to take some time..."

"No, Stefan!" Elena jumped up off of the couch and spun to face Stefan angrily;

"I don't need to think about this, I don't need time. What I **NEED** is Damon. _Your_ brother. His life is practically bound to mine anyway; this just makes it official. Do you honestly _believe_ that I could have continued surviving without him?"

Elena turned around to face her brother and shot him an apologetic look, "I survived these last 3 months because **somewhere** inside of me I _believed _that we could get him back; I just **knew** that there had to be something, but this is it; the Other Side is gone now so there's nowhere else to go, if someone dies again there's no bringing them back next time. And I don't **want** to exist without him. So no, I don't need time to think. We're doing the spell."

Elena turned and left the room, heading for bedroom and trying to block out the conversation of her friends after she'd left.

**Damon's POV**

Damon was a little shocked at Elena's speech. Bonnie was right, he'd known it too really, deep inside. Nothing would stop Elena once she decided something. It's not that he wasn't grateful for the chance to go back and live out his existence with her by his side; there's nothing he wanted more, he was just worried about the ghosts of his past. Damon resolved to simply protect Elena better than ever before when he returned to her.

"Damon" Bonnie spoke up, "Listen, I know you're worried about protecting Elena from these...people in your past or whatever, but we will **all** protect Elena, and you. I'm going to have my powers back, we have Katherine who is over 500 undead years old, Stefan, Caroline, Ric is an _enhanced _Original whatever the heck that means...hell I'm sure even Klaus would send _armies_ if Caroline asked him to" she said with a sly grin, "**Nothing** will happen to either of you Damon. We won't allow it" she finished resolutely.

Damon sat silently allowing Bonnie's words to process in his mind; he knew that really she was doing it for Elena; she didn't want her friend to be hurt...or worse and so she was letting him know that they would always be protected, but it was also for him, even if it was indirectly; and that meant a lot to Damon. He looked up at Bonnie and smiled, unsure really of what to say so opting for a simple "thank you" in the end.

**Elena's POV**

Elena looked up and smiled as Katherine came into the bedroom.

"It's a good job I forgave you in the end, and you stuck around otherwise we'd have no way of getting them back" Elena said to Katherine.

Katherine smiled and dropped into a little curtsy, "pleased to be of service" she said with a giggle before asking if Elena was okay.

"Mmm...I suppose so" Elena responded, "I didn't mean to fight with Stefan" she explained, "I just don't know why anyone would ever question me doing this. I mean I'm sure Damon won't be entirely thrilled about it but I'll deal with him. I'm still worried though, I understand the spell and everything but...we're kind of used to epic plans that end in failure" Elena laughed a little shakily and looked up at Katherine.

"Well, there is some reason to be concerned I suppose" Katherine replied, "Lucy is not powerful enough to perform the spell alone so we need to find another witch to help, I don't know how easy that's going to be. But I promise Elena, everything will be okay...look, I have something to show you"

Katherine walked over and sat beside Elena on the bed then moved her hand up to rest on Elena's cheek, flashes of memories and words crossed Elena's mind and she smiled, feeling a weight lifted from her chest.

"_We'll survive this...we always survive, trust me"  
Damon carrying her from the hospital after being bitten by Stefan and blood-jacked by Klaus.  
"I promise you...I will never leave you again"_

"See?" Katherine said smiling at Elena, "he's coming back Elena, I promise, the next full moon is in a week and a half; and then he'll be back with you. Assuming we can find another witch in time that is."

Elena smiled at the girl she now considered a friend and thanked her for showing her these special moments that Damon had obviously shared with her for this very purpose. Katherine nodded and left the room, leaving Elena to sleep.

When Elena woke in the late morning she was surprised to find that Katherine wasn't in the room, she normally waited for Elena before joining the others. She made her way through to the living room and kitchen still finding no sign of Katherine or any of her other friends, eventually she found herself outside Caroline's room and knocked before entering, looking at her friends concerned faces she felt dread fill her inside until she wanted to scream.

"She's gone...isn't she?"

**If you read...review. Please. With Damon on top. **


	22. All I Need

**A/N: Once again thank you all so much for your lovely reviews – can't believe we've passed 60! Colour me Amazed! When I wrote this story I knew that I wanted to be able to bring them all back home as well and this is the chapter that starts to tie up all the little loose ends. Can't believe we're nearly at the end!  
Once again I do not own Vampires, Diaries, Damon, Elena or anything else related to TVD. **

**All I Need**

"**Make my heart a better place, give me something I can believe"**

"_She's gone...isn't she?" _

Katherine rolled her eyes at the front door, '_oh, ye of little faith_' she thought to herself.

"El-ay-na" she called out, "I've brought you a little gift"

_2 hours previously_

Katherine needed a drink, she needed a drink, she needed to get out of the house and she needed to figure out where to find a witch.

Strolling down the street she entered a large building, '_thank god for college towns_' she thought to herself before sitting down on a stool at the bar and surveying the blonde haired girl behind the bar.

"Elena?" the girl asked in a shaky voice, she sounded...fearful, Katherine smirked wondering why this girl would possible be scared of Elena Gilbert.

"Close enough" Katherine muttered.

"Ah, Katherine" the girl replied, sounding more relieved this time. Katherine raised her eyebrows in surprise, nobody had ever sounded relieved to see **her** instead of Elena. She was Katherine Pierce; normal people quaked in their boots when she put in an appearance. _How does she know who I am anyway?_ Shaking her thoughts off for a moment Katherine ordered the girl to get her some bourbon.

"What?" she demanded when the blonde raised an eyebrow at her and glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's five-o-clock **somewhere**", shrugging she brought Katherine her drink and set it down in front of her.

"That explains why I'm not dead" the girl mumbled to herself under her breath. Katherine snapped her head up to look at her;

"And is there a reason that you **should** be dead?" she asked.

The girl in front of her froze briefly before muttering "damn vampire hearing", Katherine felt the tell-tale sting from when witches tried to use their damned brain-pain attack on her, but fortunately it did nothing more than just that; sting. Katherine had been around a long time.

Now she knew who she was dealing with; this must be Liv, the witch that had stopped the spell before Damon could make it back from the Other Side. _'Of all the bars in all the towns' _Katherine thought to herself dryly.

Rushing around the bar she grabbed Liv by the neck and pushed her into the back wall; "you are coming with **ME**" Katherine snapped, relishing for a brief second in the flash of fear in Liv's eyes.

"Let's go" she demanded, "you can come with me willingly or you can come kicking and screaming behind me, but either way you _are_ coming" she told her, Liv nodded reluctantly and Katherine let her go pushing Liv gently in front of her and leading the way home. Katherine explained what was going on while they were walking back to the apartment and reluctantly Liv agreed to help.

**Elena's POV**

"El-ay-na" she heard Katherine call out, "I've brought you a little gift" Elena was instantly relieved, and then remorseful for believing that Katherine had left. Walking out of Caroline's bedroom she decided to apologise later, wanting to see what Katherine was talking about.

As soon as Elena laid eyes on Liv she flew at her, ready to tear her throat out but instantly she was thrown back with blinding pain in her head.

"Stop" Katherine demanded, laying her hand on Liv's arm. "She won't try to hurt you again; but stand there and refrain from talking _and_ magic or I'll have to revisit my no un-necessary killing vow", the pain in Elena's head receded but she glared up at Katherine from her spot on the ground all the same. Katherine reached out her hand and pulled Elena up.

"Elena" Katherine spoke, "we need a witch - I found a witch. Even better, a witch that **owes** you...massively" Katherine raised her eyebrows, "I've told her the plan; she can help Lucy, we get Damon and Bonnie back. It's a win all round" Katherine looked at Elena gleefully.

Elena huffed in exasperation before turning to Liv.

"How am I supposed to trust you again?" Elena demanded.

"Listen, Elena. I really _am_ sorry about what happened before. But I was **dying** okay, I couldn't keep it up, I held on for as long as I could, but I am sorry" Liv looked at Elena ashamed,

"And your _friend_ here" Liv nodded her head angrily towards Katherine, "said that if I don't help then she'll kill my brother and as you know there's no coming back from _that_ anymore" she raised her hands in a surrender fashion, "so I'm going to help."

Elena nodded her head considering Liv's words. She couldn't bring herself to feel guilt over Katherine's methods; if it got Liv to cast the spell and work with them then it was worth it, not that she'd ever let anyone _actually_ kill Luke, but Liv seemed apologetic enough and her explanation did make sense even though Elena couldn't help but still be angry about the whole situation.

She looked up to see both Liv and Katherine standing waiting for her response, nodding her head again she indicated the living room, "you might as well come through and meet everyone else then" she said.

Lucy and Liv spent the afternoon dissecting the spell, checking for anything that they'd missed previously or hidden loopholes but finding nothing. Together they were strong enough to cast the spell but Liv requested that her brother join them, Elena presumed it was more out of fear of being around everyone than anything else.

When Elena went to her bedroom to change Katherine followed her.

"Did you honestly believe I'd left you?" she asked sounding a little hurt.

Elena turned around to face Katherine and shrugged lightly, "for a second, yes" she admitted truthfully, "I'm sorry Kat. It was just a natural reaction, I think if I'd thought about it for more than two minutes I would have realised that you hadn't really left."

Katherine smiled, "It's fine; I guess I understand"

"Yeah well; maybe leave a note next time" Elena teased her and Katherine laughed.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door, Elena turned to answer it and found Jeremy standing on the other side.

"Hey, guys...um, I think you need to come through and hear this" he said, Elena and Katherine both looked at him with identical questioning looks but followed after him without asking anything more.

Luke had arrived and was sitting with Liv, Lucy and Stefan, clearly in a heated discussion.

"What's going on?" Elena asked

Liv stood up and turned to Elena;

"I'd like to confirm some things with you Elena" she said and Elena nodded.

"I've agreed to help Lucy with the spell to bring your boyfriend back...and your friend as well" she clarified and Elena nodded again, she already knew this...

"And in return I would appreciate it if you would give me your word that you will not retaliate against Luke or myself for what happened?"

"Elen-" Katherine began but Elena held her hand up to stop Katherine, she knew that she was just going to warn her against making deals anyway.

"I give you my word that **IF** you help us bring Damon and Bonnie back then no harm will come to you or your brother from myself or my family and friends...Damon included" she added at the end just to be sure, you never could be with Damon she thought to herself wryly.

Liv nodded, seemingly happy with the terms, "okay then" she spoke up again, "well then I think there's something else you should know. We've been talking about this already but I wanted to clarify things first. As a gesture of goodwill Luke and I are willing to remove the 'spell' that is preventing you from entering Mystic Falls."

Elena was fairly sure that her mouth dropped open in shock, she looked at Katherine who had a similar look on her face, Caroline and Stefan looked less than certain and Jeremy had a massive grin on his face with an 'I told you so' look to go with it.

"I don't understand" Elena replied eventually, "How do you counter-act a magic spell that counter-acts magic?"

**You know what to do...review! **


	23. Poison & Wine

**A/N: Okay this was THE hardest thing I've ever written in my life. This chapter literally kicked my ass from here to Kentucky all day which is really hard to do considering I live in the UK! I nearly gave up on it a bunch of times and rewrote the ending but eventually I finished up with this chapter. I sincerely hope you don't all hate it. And if you do hate it please be nice in the way you tell me.  
I can't thank you guys ENOUGH for your incredible reviews! SO many! To all of the guests who review I wish I could thank you each personally as I do try to reply to everyone who reviews but here's a collective thank you to you all.  
Anyway enough chattering from me! I own nothing. Please...enjoy the show! **

**Poison and Wine**

"**You only know what I want you to  
I know everything you don't want me to  
I don't have a choice but I'd still choose you  
Oh I don't love you but I always will"**

"_How do you counter-act a magic spell that counter-acts magic?" _

**Damon's POV**

Damon and Bonnie had stared at each other in various stages of shock, surprise and hope for minutes after Liv told them she could undo the spell until Elena's voice cut through the silence.

"That's my girl" Damon joked, "always with the right questions."

"Shhh! Damon..._listen"_ Bonnie replied.

"_It's not about counter-acting it Elena. It's not really a 'magic' spell at all. It's more of a curse than anything else" _Liv told the group.

"_A curse?" _Elena asked.

"_Yes, I'm sure we've explained this before" _Liv said with an exasperated sigh.

"_Then explain it __**again**__" _Katherine ground out menacingly.

"_Fine, fine" _Liv said raising her hands in surrender, _"You know that traveller magic is not really magic at all, it was just a way the group found to practice without being monitored by the spirits. True magic comes from the spirit, from the earth, from nature...the passenger spell created a loophole for them but it is not nature's way" _she looked around to see if anyone was following her explanation, Katherine nodded once or twice.

"_My father told us that it was the 'devils work'" _Katherine spoke up, telling Liv what she had mentioned to some of the others once before. Liv indicated that Katherine could be right.

"_As I said, it's not nature's way. The spell that the travellers created reversed nature; went __**against**__ nature. It's a curse but all that you really __**need**__ to know is that Luke and I can revert it" _she shrugged her shoulders, _"surely that's all that matters?" _she asked.

Damon looked at Bonnie questioningly;

"She is _right_" Bonnie said thoughtfully, "it's definitely possible that they know how to reverse it, they are very powerful witches. Traveller magic is not natural and as witches it is our duty to maintain the balance between nature and the supernatural so yes..." Bonnie nodded decisively, "I believe her" she added.

Damon looked thoughtful before shrugging his shoulders; "Won't really matter too much anyway, it's not like one of them is going to step past the boundary to test the damn thing" he said with a smirk.

_3 hours later_

'Famous last words' Damon thought to himself dryly as he and Bonnie watched their friends try to decide who was going to be the 'sacrifice' to find out if the spell worked.

Liv and Luke had chanted unintelligible words for nearly half an hour outside the Mystic Falls boundary line, nothing spectacular had happened, no fire, no flashing lights, nothing really, other than the chanting and then they stopped suddenly, both looking exceptionally drained.

"_It's done"_ Luke said nodding at the others before walking with Liv and sitting down at the side of the road.

Elena was standing in the middle of Stefan and Katherine while the debate raged on about who was going to step over the invisible boundary line; eventually Elena took a decisive step forward and in Damon's mind ten things happened at once.

He leaped up off of the floor with an animalistic growl, lunging into nothingness as if he could somehow prevent her from doing this himself, Bonnie leapt up and grabbed him by the wrist but he just screamed at her to leave him alone, Stefan grabbed Elena's arm on one side and Katherine grabbed the other, clearly both having the same idea and managing to calm Damon down the smallest amount.

"_Are you __**insane**__, Elena?" _Katherine demanded angrily as Elena stood trapped between Stefan and Katherine, trying to shake them off of her. Stefan strained his neck to look at Katherine disapprovingly but she just glared at him.

"_Elena, hey, look at me" _Stefan said gently, reaching out and twisting Elena's face towards him, _"Elena you can't be the one, everything we've done...is to bring Damon home to you; that's not going to go down to well if you __**die**__ now is it? Then not only will you be gone but the rest of us, we won't be able to get them back Elena. __**We are**__ the spell. It can't be you. You know this Elena" _Stefan spoke quietly and Katherine bobbed her head up and down with every word but neither let go of their grip on Elena until finally with tears streaming down her face she nodded in agreement.

Damon let out a sigh of relief, thankful, not for the first time, for having a brother who was not the dumbest one in the world. Still, he thought to himself, **someone **was going to have to test the damn thing.

"_Well this is ridiculous" _Liv said huffily, pulling herself up from her space on the road and coming to stand in front of the gang; _"I'll do it if no-one else is brave enough"_, everyone looked at her in confusion, Liv was a witch, it made no difference if she went into Mystic Falls or not.

"_Oh for heaven's sake" _she sighed exasperated, _"do none of you remember anything we taught you? When the 'spell' was active in Mystic Falls Luke and I couldn't do magic, it stopped us from being able to practice, so I will go through and show you that I can once again use magic inside Mystic Falls, therefore you are all safe to go on home" _she explained slowly as if speaking to children which made Katherine look angry but they all agreed with the logic in her statement nonetheless.

Liv stepped over the invisible line and turned to the group; _"Okay I need a guinea pig" _she said with a laugh, this time Katherine took a slight step forward; _"use me, I'm the only one that can't really be hurt by the brain-pain" _she said rolling her eyes.

"_Katherine...if you can't be hurt by it how are we going to know if it's working?" _Stefan asked with a confused look on his face.

Katherine turned to face Stefan, _"It doesn't __**hurt**__ me Stefan, but I know when it's happening, it's like a...stinging, there's a certain amount of displeasure that I feel but it's not __**painful**__, it doesn't cripple me in the way that it does you...younger vamps" _she said with a smirk before turning to face Liv again.

A few seconds later Katherine shook out her hair, _"it worked" _she said excitedly, _"she can do magic." _

For a few moments the gang still stood silently, desperately wanting but being slightly unwilling to take those final few steps. Eventually Ric just took a deep breath and walked straight on until he passed the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign. After a few minutes everyone breathed a sigh of relief, he was fine. They were home.

Joyously Elena grabbed Katherine and Stefan's hands and together the three walked into Mystic Falls.

"_Thank you" _Elena said turning to Liv and Luke with a grateful smile.

Damon smiled happily as he watched Elena drop Stefan and Katherine's hands before turning and bolting away; he watched as she ran through the woods as fast as she could until she reached the Salvatore house. Their home.

**Elena's POV**

Elena stopped abruptly outside the door of her house, his house, their house. She was finally home. She was a step closer to Damon, she knew it would be difficult, being there without him, seeing his things, touching his clothes, drinking his bourbon, memories flashing across her mind, dancing before her eyes, smelling his scent everywhere, but not actually having him. Not being able to hold him, to kiss him, to touch him, to love him. But she was one step closer; she was home. And he would be soon. She knew the others would catch up to her quickly enough and she wanted just a minute to be alone with her memories. Taking a deep breath she pushed open the front door and sped to Damon's bedroom, her bedroom.

Throwing herself down on the massive bed she pulled one of his pillows over her face, inhaling deeply and allowing herself a moment to give in to the emotions.

A short while later she heard the laughter and voices of her friends as they spilled into the house. She sat up on the bed and wiped her face, plumping the pillow back in its rightful spot just as a knock sounded on the door.

"Come in" she said looking up to see Stefan walking through the door. He glanced around taking in his brother's room and smiled a little sadly at Elena. She patted the bed indicating him to come and sit beside her.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly.

"Mmhmm" she replied. "I feel closer to him now...here" she added, "we're going to see him again so soon, Stefan. It's really happening, we're bringing him home" she said excitedly.

Stefan smiled at the look of pure happiness on Elena's face.

"You know" Elena continued, "a lot of this is because of Katherine, Stefan" she turned to look at him, unsure if this was a conversation he even wanted to have, let alone with her.

Stefan nodded a little sighing as he did so.

"I know that Elena" he replied, "It's _very_ strange but we have a lot to thank Katherine for. I just...I don't know Elena..." Stefan trailed off into his thoughts for a moment before turning back to look at her again.

"I need time to work out how I really feel about her; all those years I believed she compelled me...I fooled myself, it was easier to believe that than to examine how I really, truly felt about her. Then when she was dying; there was a connection but I didn't need to look at it closely because, well, she was dying so it didn't matter...and now" he stopped and looked at Elena almost helplessly, "...now she's back, and she loves me and I don't know what to do because all I've been thinking about is getting Damon back. Saving my brother. I'm going to have to actually face those feelings Elena, face the things that have happened...I don't know if I'm ready to do that yet" he shrugged his shoulders still looking as unsure as before.

Elena sat thoughtfully for a moment before responding; "I know that, Stefan" she said, "but you will be ready one day. And you do have to do it. She loves you Stefan, she truly does. And I think you know, even if you're not ready to face it yet, that you love her too."

The words that Damon had once spoken to Elena about their own relationship rang in her head _'it's right. Just not right now'_ and she knew that they were true for Stefan and Katherine's love as well, but she didn't share them with Stefan, they were too precious to her, instead she told Stefan that he would know when he was ready and that it would just happen, everything would happen the way it was supposed to.

Stefan thanked Elena for her support and left her in the bedroom again and a short while later Katherine came looking for her.

"You know" Katherine said thoughtfully, "the last time I was in this bedroom was the night I brought the cure" she looked around the room, "hasn't changed much" she said with a grin.

"You were right that night" Elena said as Katherine bounced over and flopped down onto the bed beside her.

"I usually am" Katherine said with a laugh, "but what about this time?" she asked.

"You told me that it was okay to love them both" Elena said remembering even as Katherine glared at the memory, "I know at the time you were only saying it to get me worked up; but you were still _right_. It is okay to love them both, we both **do**, it's just in the ways that we love them that matter...how much did you hear that night?" she asked Katherine softly.

Katherine gave a little sigh before answering truthfully, "most of it...everything, I think" she replied eventually. "Listen, there's something I think you should see...you know Damon showed me some of his memories to help you, if you had more...meltdowns?" she asked with a grin and Elena nodded.

"Well, this isn't his memory, it's mine...what I mean is, he didn't show me this, but I think you need to see it. You understand Damon, Elena. Better than anyone so...you know what...just let me show you the memories and then you can see for yourself, but please...don't stake me when it's over. I was a different person back then" she said with a small smile before adding something that confused Elena.

"Damon, I know you're watching so...stop it. Go find someone else to stalk for a little while. This is between us girls" Katherine demanded.

Elena looked slightly nervous but nodded her head and Katherine rolled over onto her side, placing her hand on Elena's cheek and throwing her into her memories.

"_Come on. Kiss me or kill me. Which will it be, Damon? We both know that you're only capable of one." _Elena watches as Damon turns away from Katherine until she rushes to him, pinning him on the ground underneath her; Damon flips them over, grabbing Katherine's neck and after a couple of seconds he kisses her passionately.

Jealousy threatens to consume Elena as she watches them kissing, rushing into walls, books flying off shelves and clothes being ripped and she can't understand for the life of her why Katherine is forcing her to watch this. Until Damon begins to speak again.

"_I have a question. Answer it right and I'll forget how much I loved you, I'll forget everything and we can start over. This could be our defining moment because we have the time. That's the beauty of eternity...I just need the truth, just once" _he pleads with Katherine.

"_Stop. I already know your question and it's answer. The truth is...I've never loved you. It was always Stefan." _Elena couldn't bear to watch anymore as she sees the sadness and the pain and the hurt in Damon's eyes so she ripped Katherine's hand away from her face and threw herself quickly to the other side of the room.

Katherine held up her hands

"Elena please. Remember what I said; there's a reason I'm doing this. Just please watch the rest. And remember, I'm not the same person. We both know who I was back then" she pleaded with her doppelganger.

"When, Katherine? When was that?" Elena asked

"Just after Founder's Day" Katherine replied, "a few days later, there'd been the Lockwood memorial that day I think" she continued trying to recall the exact day.

Elena gasped, realising that if Katherine was right then it was the same day that Damon had come to her room drunk...trying to prove that there was something between them...the day he'd killed Jeremy. Because she had said virtually identical words to him.

Katherine watched as Elena tried to compose herself before asking her again to finish watching what she wanted to show her; eventually Elena nodded and walked back over to Katherine.

This time there was no scene, it was Katherine standing outside of Damon's bedroom door, holding the bottle with the cure in her hand and listening to Damon and Elena's deathbed conversation. But for Katherine there was only one part that she wanted Elena to see, to understand.

"_I know you love Stefan, that it's always gonna be Stefan..." _

Katherine took her hand away immediately after and looked at Elena, "you understand; why I wanted to show you this?" she asked her friend. Elena nodded once; "Yes" she replied, "I understand, but I need some time now please. I need to be alone" she told Katherine who complied.

Elena lay back down on the bed; she did understand why Katherine had shown her these memories, even if she hated having to watch them, having to hear her words and Katherine's words thrown in Damon's face, thrown back in her own face.

Elena knew that Damon still believed she would leave him, he was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the day where she would walk away from him, probably for the day she would go back to Stefan she thought to herself dryly, her words, Katherine's words and both of their actions had wounded Damon deeply in ways that even now she was only beginning to comprehend.

As she lay there, on the bed she shared with Damon, she resolved that she would find a way to make him forget those words. She would find a way to make him forget the pain and the hurt she had caused him.

**A/N 2.0: Please don't kill me for the bit at the end. Ducks to avoid any flying objects! It will become important later I promise! Final chapter tomorrow – be kind and review. **


	24. Crash Into MeNever Let Me Go

**A/N: Wow, Okay so here it is. The final chapter (&epilogue) of Redemption. I can't believe it's actually over, this was my first ever fan-fic and the thing that's made it such an epic journey was all of you.  
So I dedicate this to each and every one of you, thank you for being a part of this. And this one is especially for Hailybug who I KNOW I have been killing with my slow burn. I hope this lives up to your expectations. There's also a few little throwbacks in this one...hope you enjoy them!  
I'm currently throwing around plotlines for a sequel so if anyone would be interested in reading more then please review and let me know. In the meantime if you'll miss me too much you could always read The Delena Diaries!  
Right enough from me! For the last time the only place I own the Vampire Diaries is in my wildest dreams. On with the show!  
Can anyone say #DelenaRainKiss? **

**Crash Into Me/Never Let Me Go **

"**Into your heart I'll beat again  
Lost for you I'm so lost for you  
In your eyes, love it glows so  
I'm bare boned and crazy for you  
You come crash into me and I come into you"**

_10 Days Later_

The night of the full moon was finally upon them. Tonight would be the night that Damon and Bonnie came home. Tonight Elena would finally be reunited with Damon. Together again.

Everyone had been on edge over the last few days, anxious and desperately willing time to hurry up, the air had been thick with tension and nothing was doing anything to relieve it. The blood of the doppelgangers had been mixed and they had decided to cast the spell at the graveyard, the same place that they had lost Damon and Bonnie would become the place they brought them back. It seemed, fitting, somehow.

As if the weather itself understood the urgency and the tension in the situation the heavens had opened that morning and hadn't stopped ever since. The rain thundered down in lashing drops, soaking them all from the second they stepped outside but Elena didn't notice a thing, she was too focused on what was going to happen.

Damon and Bonnie stood in the middle of their space, silent and gripping each other's hands as if their lives depended on it; which as Damon had mused to Bonnie; they did. They hadn't known when would be the right time to hold hands so they'd been standing this way for the better part of two hours.

In a show of solidarity Elena and her friends had lined up behind the circle that Liv, Lucy and Luke had created. Flames danced and flickered around the circle, the rain doing nothing to dampen them and the flames illuminated the faces of the group gathered to bear witness to the extraordinary power of witches and nature combined.

Stefan stood in the middle of the front line; one hand grasping Elena's and one Katherine's. Behind them Caroline, Ric and Jeremy, Elena could feel her brothers hand resting on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly every few seconds as Stefan did with his hand.

Nobody had spoken in minutes, it could have been hours for all Elena knew. And then the witches began chanting.

"What are they saying?" Katherine whispered to nobody in particular.  
"I don't know...it sounds Latin" Stefan replied equally quietly.  
"I don't think it's Latin" Elena mumbled under her breath and then had to stifle a giggle as she got a serious case of déjà-vu. She was sure she had had this exact conversation when they'd been trying to rescue Katherine from the tomb.

They fell quiet again and listened to the chanting, mesmerised as the flames suddenly burst higher and higher, dancing in front of them.

"Does that mean it's working?" Jeremy asked from behind her and Elena nodded once.

Suddenly the flames disintegrated and disappeared sending the cemetery into darkness, even with the enhanced vampire senses nobody could see a thing against the darkness and the rain driving into their eyes.

Before anyone had time to adjust one of the witches created another ring of fire and Elena broke free, running wildly.

"Damon" she screamed his name, crashing into him.

"Damon" she whispered his name, wrapping her legs around his waist.

Damon fell on his knees to the wet, dirty ground with Elena wrapped around him. He pulled her closer into him, inhaling her scent for the first time in four months. Rain and tears mingled running in rivers down their faces as he held her without words for precious seconds. He didn't see anyone else, she didn't notice anyone else, all that mattered was that they were finally in each other's arms again.

"Elena, Elena look at me baby" Damon whispered in her ear.

Elena looked up into Damon's eyes, "oh, god, Damon, you're here" she gasped breathlessly.

"I'm here. I'm really here...I promised you I would come back to you and I did" Elena smiled softly at him and began pressing gentle kisses to his forehead, his face, his hands, his neck, speaking the same phrase between every kiss.

"You came back to me"

As the rain continued to pour from the heavens Elena looked into Damon's eyes once more;

"I love you" she finally said the words she'd been waiting what felt like forever to say.

Damon crashed his lips onto hers, pulling her closer still into him as he poured all of his love, his passion, his devotion, his very heart and soul into his kiss. Fingers tangled in hair, around bodies, lips found necks, fangs found blood, the desire to be complete with one another a basic need that neither considered stopping and it was impossible to tell where Elena ended and Damon began.

Without the need to take a breath their ministrations could have lasted hours or days and neither of them cared nor noticed the passage of time; they ignored the rain and the wind whipping and howling around them until finally Damon found the strength of will to tear his mouth from hers and his hands from her hair.

Pulling his face slightly away from hers he caught her face between his hands, softly stroking her cheek with his fingers.

"I love you. You are my life" he said reverentially "I will never let you go" he promised her dropping a kiss on her forehead. Elena nodded once and threw her arms around his neck pulling him closer to her again for a brief moment.

"We should probably get out of this rain" Damon teased her gently

"And find the others" Elena agreed with a sigh disentangling her legs from Damon's waist, she jumped up and reached her hand out to him pulling him up to stand beside her.

"Where'd everyone go?" Elena wondered as she looked around the deserted cemetery. Damon shrugged, "probably to the house like sane people" he laughed indicating the rain.

"So you're...vampire? Right?" Elena questioned hesitantly and hopefully at the same time.

"Well let's see" Damon teased knowing that he'd already drank from her but that she'd been too occupied to notice; he grabbed her hand and pulled her into his body before speeding through the cemetery and the woods and coming to an abrupt stop outside his front door.

"Yep...fully vamped" he joked.

Holding hands they walked into the house together dripping water all over Damon's precious Persian rugs but he didn't care, there was only one person he was still looking for.

As Stefan turned to face his brother Damon's face transformed with a devilish grin

"Hello, brother"

"**And all this devotion was rushing out of me  
Found the place to rest my head  
Never let me go, Never let me go"**

**One Month Later**

"El-AY-NA! Damon! Come on hurry up!" Katherine shouted up the stairs impatiently for the tenth time before turning to Stefan with a huff and rolling her eyes.

Stefan smirked and shrugged his shoulders in a 'what ya gonna do?' gesture and Katherine sighed again.

It had been this way for a month, Damon and Elena did not put in an appearance until late afternoon and 'retired' to their bedroom early every night. "_Not that it makes any difference"_ Katherine had moaned to Stefan one night. "_We're vampires"_ she'd said, _we can _**hear**_ them_. But nobody really cared and everybody understood.

The night they had got Damon and Bonnie back had been one of the best nights of Stefan's existence, his brother was home. He'd laughed at his entrance, so typically Damon and they had shared a hug for the first time in years before Stefan had handed Damon a glass of his best bourbon. "_Brother bonding at its finest" _Damon had joked at the time.

Elena had indeed given Bonnie the biggest hug she'd ever received and then Bonnie had suggested they test the bond between Damon and Elena to see how it worked. They had all agreed that it was necessary but Elena had laughed, grabbing Damon's hand and pulling him along behind her, "_But not tonight, Bonnie. Not tonight"_ and then they had disappeared leaving the others laughing.

They had indeed discovered exactly what the bond meant the next day, Lucy had been right; it was similar to the spell she'd cast at the Masquerade Ball. Damon had acted as guinea pig, hating every second of it because it was hurting Elena and he couldn't prevent it but he knew it was necessary. First Bonnie had cast her wicked brain-pain spell which led to a writhing heap of Damon and Elena on the floor and then he'd taken a small amount of vervain which led to an hour's blackout for both. Nobody was willing to snap either of their necks to find out what would happen but they were all fairly certain of what the outcome would be nonetheless.

So Damon had decided to take some precautions. The deed to the house had been signed over to Jeremy, he was living with Bonnie now but he'd invited Katherine, Caroline, Ric, Damon, Elena and Stefan into the house and would provide services for anyone else as and when needed.

He'd set Bonnie and Caroline a fruitless mission of searching for a spell that would un-tie his life from Elena's, they'd agreed to search although neither was hopeful that they would find anything and he'd insisted on all of the vampires slowly beginning to build up a tolerance to vervain once again. "_Nasty habit", _he'd said, "_but it needs to be done." _

Elena had asked him one night to show her what he had said to her the night he died; he hadn't wanted to because he felt it was too sad especially now he was home but she'd insisted, saying that she would always wonder, that it was always there in her mind so he'd given in, as he always did when it came to Elena.

"_You lied to me" _Elena sobs hysterically and Damon reaches out and strokes her hair.  
_"Even if I wanted to apologise, you couldn't hear me...so I won't" _Damon speaks into the void sadly.  
"_Please, don't leave me"  
"I don't have a choice, baby. You are, by far, the greatest thing that ever happened to me in my 173 years on this earth. I get to die knowing I was loved, not just by anyone, but you, Elena Gilbert. It's the epitome of a life fulfilled. It's never gonna get any better than this. I peaked."_ He tells her his truth as he reaches out to wipe the tears from her face.  
"_I love you, Elena...bye" _

When he'd finished showing her Elena cried in his arms for hours and Damon simply held her whispering softly to her and reassuring her that it was okay, he was home, he was never going to leave her again until eventually she fell asleep still curled in his arms, exhausted from the crying.

When she woke up she'd demanded to know why he seemed so desperate to unbind his life from hers and he'd told her the truth that he was worried about her, that there were people who could and most likely would try to hurt him or kill him and Elena found her moment.

"_I love you, Damon"_ she'd said to him, _"I __**want**__ this. I don't want to live without you; I can't do this without you. I can't survive eternity without you Damon. My life was already bound to you before this spell, long before; I just didn't know it some of the time. And I'm sorry Damon, for the things I've said to you, for the ways I've hurt you...but you need to know" _she'd stopped and smiled at him widely, "_you're it for me Damon. You. Are. It. No-one else. It's always gonna be __**you**__ Damon. Forever." _

Damon had always thought he could never feel more love for Elena and he was continually surprised when he found that he could, but he'd never felt more for her than he did in that moment. She was his; in every way and as much as he was hers. They belonged to each other. Still it didn't stop Damon from searching for a way to undo the binding spell; he just cared too much about Elena's safety.

3 weeks after Damon had come home he'd sat down with his brother and had a frank conversation about Katherine.

Apparently it had helped because since then the two had been damn near inseparable and now they were waiting for Elena and Damon at the front door, shouting at them to hurry up; bags packed and ready to go.

The girls had cornered them one night demanding to be taken to New York. They'd planned a road trip and who were Damon and Stefan to refuse the women they loved anything?

Katherine shouted on Elena one last time "Elena, so help me god if you don't get your **ass** down those stairs in 2 seconds then we are _leav_ing witho-" she stopped as Damon and Elena came into view and began bouncing up and down on her high heels.

"Let's go, let's go, let's go" she demanded grabbing Elena by the arm and dragging her out of the front door.

"Get the bags" she demanded turning her head to look at Damon and Stefan, Elena turned around at the same time and sent them an apologetic look.

Damon raised his eyebrows at Stefan who just shrugged his shoulder before picking up his and Katherine's bag, Damon grabbed his and Elena's and the brothers walked out of their house together, turning to lock the door.

"So, New York" Damon mused to Stefan, "uh-huh" he replied with a laugh.

"Should be fun" they both said at the same time before following their girls to the car.

**A/N Final: So that's it folks. If you were EVER going to review a chapter then please let it be this one. You know what to do. And don't forget to let me know if you'd like me to do the sequel! **


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